The Fantabumendous Mis-adventures of the Spectacular Trio
by gracegrrl007
Summary: Yukiho: A shy, quiet girl with a deep-seated fear of men and dogs. Makoto: A tomboyish, handsome girl with many secret, feminine qualities. Sora: An attractive, sarcastic teenaged boy with a talent for escaping fangirls. What will happen when these three personalities clash? Whatever it is, it's sure to be funny. *I do not own iM@S or Sora. Jo owns Sora. Maybe some OOC-ness.
1. Chapter 1

_…in which Makoto and Yukiho are on a walk and meet Sora._

"…and you never know what to say to fat people, you know? Because you can't just be like, 'you're so fat' since you don't want to hurt their feelings, but you know they have to find out somehow…you know what I mean?" Kikuchi Makoto was asking her best friend as they strolled along, hand-in,-hand, through the park. Hagiwara Yukiho smiled.

"I think so," she replied. "Makoto-chan, this park is really big but we're the only people here…"

Makoto laughed. "That's true, huh? Well, I guess it's good that there aren't any men around, at least," she suggested. "Right?"

Yukiho nodded slowly. "I-if there were, then I'd be scared…!"

"But I wouldn't let them hurt you," Makoto soothed. "Because you're my best friend. Alright?"

Yukiho smiled brighter. "O-OK."

Almost as if to test Makoto's promise, a boy suddenly emerged from behind the trees, looking around confusedly. He sighed and brushed black bangs out of his blue eyes, wandering around the park. It took him a moment to see Makoto and Yukiho, and it took the girls equally long to spot him.

Yukiho let out a small gasp and moved closer to Makoto. Makoto glared evenly at the pale-skinned boy, who, in turn, gazed suspiciously at her.

"What do you want?" the boy asked. "I don't meant to sound rude, but, you know…you're kind of…staring at me."

"I could ask you the same thing," Makoto hissed. "What's with the suspicious look on your face? You think I'm gonna kill you or something?"

"Well, if looks could kill you would have," the boy commented carelessly, the caution fading from his gaze. "Sorry if I scared you or something. I'm looking for my house."

"Your…house?" Makoto echoed. "Why are you looking for your house way out here?"

"I got lost running away from a crowd of creepy fangirls," the boy explained, sighing. "So now I have to find my house. And I have no idea where I am."

"Th-the park…" Yukiho stammered quietly. "Y-you're…at the park…"

The boy smiled at her. "I can see that, thank you," he laughed. "Hey, are you two famous or something?"

"What's with this all of a sudden?" Makoto questioned, relaxing the poison in her eyes until only confusion remained.

"Well, I was looking at you weird earlier because I kinda recognize you even though we've never met. So I figured you were famous or something like that," the boy said. "By the way, I'm Sora."

"Makoto. Kikuchi Makoto."

"H-Hagiwara Yukiho…"

"So you're idols!" Sora announced. "I knew I recognized those faces. Hey, what are you guys doing out here anyways?"

"Girls! You _girls _or you _ladies_! We're girls!" Makoto snapped. Sora blinked.

"OK, you _ladies_. What are you _ladies_ doing out here?" he corrected.

Makoto smiled approvingly. "We were going for a walk."

"Oh." Sora glanced over towards a small ice-cream stand about a block away, barely visible past the trees. "You wanna go get some ice-cream?"

Yukiho squeaked in alarm. Makoto blushed slightly.

"You want to take us out for ice-cream?" she verified.

Sora nodded. "Not 'take you out', like, on a date 'take you out'. Just because it's not every day I run into idols, so I may as well treat you to some ice-cream just for being famous."

Yukiho scooted even closer to her tomboyish friend. _A date with a man?_ she thought hopelessly. _There's no way I could…but, if Makoto-chan is there, then…maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Besides, Sora-kun seems unusually kind…_

Makoto glanced at her shy friend and Yukiho nodded stiffly. "Alright, we'll go get ice-cream with you," Makoto declared. "But you're not allowed to come within thirteen feet of Yukiho unless I've cut your hands off first. OK?"

"You want to cut off my hands? Isn't that…illegal?"

"OK?" Makoto repeated.

Sora sighed. "Alright, don't worry. We can even get separate tables if it'll make you feel better," he suggested, smiling warmly at Yukiho. Yukiho blushed slightly and nodded. "Then, separate tables it is. Let's go on down. What flavors do you want?"

"Do you know if that place carries Princess Bubblegum Sparkly flavor?" Makoto wondered aloud.

"Yeah, I think so," Sora answered.

"Oh. I hate that flavor. They shouldn't carry it."

"…is that so. Yukiho-chan-"

"P-please don't call me by name!" Yukiho yelped. "Hagiwara-chan is fine for now..."

Sora paused. "OK then, Hagiwara-chan. What flavor would you like?" He flashed Yukiho another bright smile and Yukiho found herself blushing even more.

"Um…blueberry, please," she said quietly.

"Could you repeat that?"

"BLUEBERRY!" Yukiho shouted in a panic.

Sora blinked. "OK, that was unexpected," he muttered. "Blueberry. Yep, I definitely heard you that time."

"I-I'm sorry…! I panicked!"

"It's fine," Sora insisted with a laugh. "I think it was cute."

"Do you think I'm cute?" Makoto asked hopefully. Sora studied her for a moment.

"No," he stated bluntly.

Makoto's smile faded. "Oh. I guess I should've known."

"I think you're cute, Makoto-chan," Yukiho said brightly. Makoto smiled again.

"Thanks, Yukiho. I think you're cute too," she added.

Yukiho grinned and Sora put his hands in his pockets.

"Alright, then. To the ice-cream shop we go!" he exclaimed. He began leading the girls off towards the ice-cream stand.

None of them realized the friendships and the relationships that would be started by that simple trip.


	2. Chapter 2

_...in which Sora and Makoto flee from fangirls and Yukiho eats ice-cream with the _

_ Futami twins._

Sora folded his arms behind his head and kicked the dirt beneath his chair. "So what you're saying is…you get attacked by creepy fangirls more then I do."

Makoto, sitting next to him, leaned forward and placed her chin in her hand. "Definitely. The other day Grace was among them and she almost ate my face off. You know Grace?"

"I know her freakish sister Jo," Sora said, shivering. "She almost ate my shirt off the other day. And no, you definitely do not get attacked by more fangirls then me. I mean, you're a _girl_. And I'm a boy. So of course they'd come-"

Makoto interrupted him by slamming her fist on the table, which startled the near-sleeping Yukiho who had, thus far, managed sharing a table with Sora. Makoto offered her a sheepish smile and then turned angrily to Sora.

"You have no idea!" she cried. "They don't care that I'm a girl! They just like me for my handsome face!"

"You do have a rather handsome face," Sora commented carelessly, shrugging. "But so do I."

"It doesn't matter! They're freaks!"

"_You're _a freak."

"I-I am not, you jerk!"

Yukiho nodded slowly. "I don't think Makoto-chan is a freak."

"Thank you, Yukiho." Makoto turned to address the brunette, who smiled at her sweetly.

Sora shrugged again and took a bite of his chocolate ice-cream. "Whatever. I definitely have more fangirls. And they're led by Jo."

"I perform on national television in front of a huge legion of girls all the time, so I definitely have more then you. And mine are led by Grace. And I'm a girl, so it's worse anyways."

"One-hundred-six," Sora announced. "Yesterday, I counted one-hundred-six."

Makoto snorted. "That's nothing!" she scoffed. "My personal record is six-hundred-ninety-seven!"

Sora blinked. "Wow," he said simply. "How did you count all that while running for your life?"

"I didn't have to. They were all wearing numbers."

"You sure you didn't just run into an all-women's marathon?"

"I'm positive. They had shirts that said 'Makoto-oji's Biggest Fan #486."

"Wow. That's a little sad. My personal record is five-hundred-forty."

Yukiho giggled. "The two of you seem to have a lot in common," she declared. "Th-that's just what I think…"

Sora shrugged for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day. "I guess."

"M-maybe you'd make a nice couple…?"

Sora leapt out of his chair. "Me and _her_?!" he yelled. "You actually think there is any possibility we would make a good _couple_? Are you…insane, or something?!"

Immediately after seeing Yukiho's terrified and saddened face, Sora regretted his words. Yukiho whimpered and sank down into her chair. Makoto laid a hand on hers and glared up at the now-standing Sora.

Sora frowned and sighed. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I guess I over-reacted a little. I didn't mean to scare you."

"You think?" Makoto lashed. "Geez, you barely even know me and you already don't want to go out with me! You're a jerk! And now you scared little Yukiho. She was just making a suggestion."

Yukiho whimpered again and nodded, tears welling in her eyes. Sora's own eyes widened.

"No no no! D-don't cry!" he stuttered. "Ah…look what you did, Sora, she's crying! I'm so sorry, Ohime-chan…I-I mean, Hagiwara-chan…" Embarrassed, Sora turned aside. Yukiho sniffed.

"W-what did you call me?" she asked.

"Ohime-chan?" Sora tried.

Yukiho nodded. "That w-was the one."

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about how you're so cute and pretty that you kinda remind me of a princess…" Sora blushed slightly and trailed off. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

Makoto sniffed indignantly. "So, she's a cute princess and I'm a freak. Good going, you've just offended me greatly." After a pause, she added, "Not that I don't think you're cute and princess-y too, Yukiho. But I'd like a compliment too."

"You're very handsome…?" Sora shook his head. "That's all I got."

"You're mean!"

"OK, I can live with that." Sora smiled warmly at Yukiho. "Or at least, I can live with being mean to you. I'm sorry for scaring you, Ohime—Hagiwara-chan."

"You can call me O-Ohime-chan," Yukiho mumbled. "If you want."

Sora grinned and was about to say something when Makoto stiffened and twitched slightly. Sora looked at her curiously.

"What's up?"

"Fans. Female. All of them," Makoto hissed. "And they're staring. In…a really creepy way. And one of them has a pocketknife."

Sora froze. "You're kidding."

"I am not."

"I estimate…what do you think? Twenty-two?"

"Yeah, that seems right…"

Sora nodded slowly. The fans began to advance.

"Makoto-kun and Sora-kun in the same place?" one of them squealed. "Oh, Emi, we are so lucky!"

"I know!" her friend replied, leading the pack as they moved towards the trio. "They're so handsome! And look, Yukiho-chan is there too! I'm jealous."

"Yukiho-chan is so lucky to be surrounded by such handsome people," a different girl sighed wistfully.

Sora flicked his eyes to Makoto. "Plan A: we run for our lives. Plan B: we give them an autograph and smile and then run for our lives. And plan C: we scream for help," he listed. "Sound good?"

"Yes. Yes it does. Plan A commence!"

And suddenly, Makoto and Sora had taken off running. The horde of fangirls followed them. Yukiho cried out in shock at the realization that her only two companions had now left and she was all alone. Slightly frightened, Yukiho brought her knees to her chest and stared at Makoto's un-finished lime sorbet and Sora's empty container of what was once chocolate ice-cream and took a bite of her own flavor. When she finished that, she ate from Makoto's cup, figuring the boyish idol would have too much on her hands to worry about her sorbet. Then Yukiho just sat.

"Hey, Ami, look! It's Yukipyon!"

"Yukipyon, what're you doing here all alone? Can Mami and Ami sit too?"

Yukiho whirled towards the sound and found the Futami twins in line to get some ice-cream. Ami waved and Mami flashed her a "peace" sign and a grin.

Yukiho beamed and waved back. _Now I won't be alone. Thank goodness! _"Ami-chan! Mami-chan! You're welcome to come sit with me, i-if you like!"

Ami and Mami high-fived each other. "Yeah, yeah! Now Ami and Mami get to sit with the legendary Burrowing Idol Yukipyon!" Ami cheered.

"Mami is excited! Is Ami excited too?"

"Ami is very excited!"

After retrieving their ice-cream, Ami and Mami joined Yukiho at the table and the two engaged in small-talk (or, from Yukiho, it was small-talk. From the twins it was a huge discussion about the latest video game).

And so it was that none of them heard Sora and Makoto screaming for help until they returned, running, to the table, with torn clothes and covered in red lipstick. Makoto collapsed in sobs upon finding that she didn't even have any comforting sorbet to return to and Sora followed soon after upon finding he would now be sitting with _three _freaks.


	3. Chapter 3

_ …in which Sora takes Yukiho on a date and Makoto & company conduct intense spy _

_ work._

"Y-you want to take me to a restaurant?" Yukiho gasped, staring confusedly at Sora. The 18-year-old-boy nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Not like a date," he said quickly. "It's just…I feel bad for scaring you yesterday, and for running away in the middle of our ice-cream time, so I want to make it up to you by taking you out to lunch."

Yukiho blinked. "Will Makoto-chan be coming?"

"No, just us."

"I want her to come…I'm too scared to be alone…"

Sora smiled. "Don't worry. I promise you I won't hurt you. Or touch you. Or look at you unless you tell me in advance it's OK. Is that fine?"

Yukiho looked around to see if Makoto was around to help her reject Sora's invitation. He seemed like a sweet boy and Yukiho certainly didn't want to hurt him, but she knew there was no way she'd be able to survive one-on-one-lunch-time with a boy for a few hours. "Um…"

"You don't have to be afraid," Sora assured her. "I promise. I heard from Makoto that you were afraid of men. To be honest, I'm afraid of most girls too." He laughed.

"Really?" Yukiho verified. "But…why?"

"Because my old girlfriend from Colorado was a freak, the fangirls that chase me are freaks, Jo and Grace are freaks…"

Yukiho nodded. "So…all the things I imagine-m-men-doing to me…those are all things girls have actually done to you? O-or something like that…"

Sora nodded back. "Exactly. So I wouldn't be asking you to lunch if I didn't trust you," he explained.

Yukiho blushed and felt herself giving in to Sora's charms. It was obvious he was serious about not hurting her. In fact, at this point he took a couple steps back and simply held his hand out to Yukiho. Yukiho stared at him a little longer; then she reached out and took hold of his hand with the edge of her fingers. Sora smiled.

Makoto clicked her tongue. "Sora, Sora, Sora…don't you know I could never let you take Yukiho on a date without me?" A smirk crossed her lips and she lifted her cell-phone to her face. "Time to call in some back-up…hey, Hibiki? Could I ask you a favor?"

"Ya want me to wear WHAT?!" Ganaha Hibiki demanded. "No way. That is NOT happenin'."

"Come on, Hibiki! If you don't wear a disguise then you'll definitely get recognized!"

"I've gotta better idea," Hibiki muttered, grinning evilly. "Forget sheep costumes. We're gonna be…"

Sora led Yukiho into the building at a distance. Yukiho was openly shocked at the mere size of the restaurant—she felt certain a herd of elephants could fit in the room and there would still be room for three tables of six people to roam freely. Sora chuckled at her amazed expression, then led her to a table for two. He allowed Yukiho to pick which seat she wanted (since, after all, he himself was unsure if Yukiho would want to stare at the kitchen or the wall when she wasn't focused on him) and then took the seat left over.

"So, Ohime-chan," he began, "what would you like to eat?"

Makoto's spy entourage had grown to include Akizuki Ritsuko, Hoshii Miki, and Minase Iori. The four of them, along with Hibiki, were currently dressed in outrageous costumes and perched in a booth a few tables away from Sora and Yukiho.

Iori's outfit consisted of a duck bill and a princess dress. She watched the pair through binoculars.

Miki was dressed in a giant cat costume, an elephant head, and a huge golden chain necklace with her initials. Her spy gear of choice was a kaleidoscope.

Ritsuko was dressed in a nun outfit, carried two-pound weights and wore a sweatband, and had a guitar on her back. She was using only her glasses to spy.

Makoto herself wore mourning garb, as she called it—a black dress and veil. She used a giant telescope to watch Sora and Yukiho.

Hibiki had the most interesting costume by far. Hers was a large trench coat, clown shoes, a tutu, and two huge golden bracelets on each wrist on her body. Her face was adorned in elephant ears, a tree hat, glasses with eyes painted on the lenses, those glasses with the mustache and the giant nose and the bushy eyebrows and a bandana underneath the nose and covering her mouth, and a monocle, which was how she watched the pair.

"Roll call," Makoto hissed. "Green Sarcophagus!"

"Right here, Vice-Commander-in-Chief Pickled Ham Sir!" Hibiki chanted.

"Squealing Lima-bean!" Makoto called.

"Present!" Ritsuko called back. She adjusted her glasses.

"Fluffy Sparkly Sparkle-pants!"

"That's Miki!" Miki yelped. "Miki's kaleidoscope doesn't work, Makoto-kun. All Miki can see are colors."

"That's all you're supposed to see, you," Iori sighed.

"And the Pink Orangutangular Dolphin!" Makoto demanded. "Pink Orangutangular Dolphin? Where are you?"

"I'm right here!" Iori huffed. "Don't be so impatient."

"Good. Let's go over our distraction noises," Makoto suggested. "Green Sarcophagus?"

"Whale noises, Vice Commander-in-Chief Pickled Ham Sir!" Hibiki recited.

"Squealing Lima-bean?"

"Cow, Your Presidency."

"Fluffy Sparkly Sparkle-pants?"

"Miki is a flushing toilet in the key of A flat."

"…Pink Orangutangular Dolphin?"

"That's easy, of course I'm a dog. A cute dog like a Pomeranian. Not a bulldog."

"And I'm a police siren. Got it."

Yukiho waited eagerly for her food to arrive. Sora had been telling her about himself for a while. She learned that last year, he had been living in Colorado, a state in America, under the name Skai Jackson. He had a girlfriend in Colorado who Sora said was "a total perverted freak", so he dumped her. He moved to Japan own his own when he turned eighteen, where he learned the language and customs through an online tutor and had started going by Sora.

"…and then I met you two. And that was my entire life story," Sora finished. "OK, now we know more about each other."

"Or, at least…I know about you…" Yukiho muttered. "Um…my father has a good-paying job, s-so I live in a large house, and I have a couple servants, b-but I'm not spoiled! And…last year I decided I wanted to gain more courage, so I-I became an idol…"

"That makes sense," Sora commented. He looked to his right, his attention becoming fixated on a group of particularly stand-out-ish individuals at a booth a few tables away. One of them waved. "Such a nice group of circus cosplayers. Don't you think, Ohime-chan? Who do you think they are?"

"I-I think…I don't know," Yukiho murmured. She waved.

"Dangit! He's onto us!" Makoto hissed.

"Distraction noises, commence!" Ritsuko ordered. "Distraction actions are go!"

Hibiki leapt to her feet and started dancing like an idiot while making whale noises. Iori "yipped" like a Pomeranian and pretended to be trying on hats. Miki spun in a circle while making flushing noises. Makoto made a siren noise and threw food at Sora. Ritsuko pretended to graze from a field and made cow noises.

Sora blinked in confusion at the mass of people is funny costumes doing random things and making weird noises. Then he shrugged and turned back to his food.

"Ohime-chan, how are you enjoying yourself so far?"

"I am enjoying myself quite well, th-thank you…"

"Phew…I think we're safe," Hibiki sighed after everyone had calmed down. "Mission complete, yo. We've done good."

"Keep your eyes on Sora and Yukiho!" Makoto snapped. "Squealing Lima-bean! Do you see anything weird?"

"Negatory, Sir."

"Fluffy Sparkly Sparkle-pants?"

"Yes sir, Makoto-kun!"

"What are they doing now?"

"They appear to be leaving, Makoto-kun Sir."

"Really?" Makoto peered through her telescope. "Huh. So they are. Good work, men, we have avoided catastrophe. Hats off to you, good fellows. I may request your assistance again in the future."

The spies high-fived on their good work as Sora and Yukiho packed up their things and left the restaurant. Sora was walking visibly closer to his date.

"So, Yukiho, how was your afternoon?" Makoto asked her friend as the two sat in chairs by an auditorium. They were getting ready to perform a song-and-dance routine with Amami Haruka for a team of judges who were judging idol groups. Makoto, Yukiho, and Haruka had been chosen as the unit to represent 765 Productions and possibly gain a bit of TV airtime for winning the competition. The publicity would help 765 Pro greatly.

For the time being, Haruka was practicing her dance and Makoto and Yukiho were just making small-talk. Yukiho smiled.

"It was fun. Sora-kun and I went to get some lunch. He was really sweet, and he didn't do anything to me at all the whole time…" She paused. "What about you, Makoto-chan?"

Makoto shrugged. "Oh, you know…just the usual."


	4. Chapter 4

_ …in which Nakamura Kentaro and Fujiwari Jasper form a quintet._

Sora sighed and clicked a button on the remote control. He was currently sitting in the leisure room of his own idol agency, 331 Productions, with a fellow idol, Nakamura Kentaro, otherwise known as Kenchi. Sora had trouble getting the brunette idol named Yukiho out of his head. He had known the second he saw her that he was going to end up falling in love and his assumptions had been spot-on. He sighed and changed the channel again. He was about to change it another time when Kenchi snatched the remote.

"I was using that!" Sora complained. Kenchi said nothing; he only turned the volume up and plopped onto the couch beside Sora.

"Makoto-chan is performing," Kenchi gushed. "I wasn't about to let you change the channel. And look, there's Yukiho-chan and Haruka-chan too."

Sora stared at Yukiho, watching her sing and dance her way around the screen. He let a smile creep onto his lips. "I didn't realize Ohime-chan was performing," he commented. "I've only seen her perform a couple times. These three sound good together."

"They look good together too," Kenchi added. "But Makoto-chan looks the best."

"You're serious?"

"Yes. She's so cute."

"Yukiho—I mean, Ohime-chan—is way cuter," Sora laughed. "Makoto is not cute. She's mean to me."

"You've met her?" Kenchi gasped. "Sora-kun! You've got to introduce me!"

Sora would have answered him, but he got distracted by the short, pale, black-haired kid that had just walked in.

"Hey, Jasper," he called in greeting.

The kid muttered something that sounded to Sora like a "bluh".

"Hi, Jasper-kun," Kenchi said. "Are you here to fill in today? Makoto-chan, Yukiho-chan, and Haruka-chan are performing."

"Why should I care?" Jasper sighed. "Yeah, I'm here because our president is stupid and sent thugs to kidnap me and bring me here to fill in as a group member with you people today."

"Oh?"

"So I flipped the thugs and came here on my own."

"Oh…"

Sora sighed. "Jasper, why'd you show up on your own if you didn't want to be here?"

Jasper popped a dollar in the vending machine and punched in a few numbers. "I dunno, the president was bugging me so I came here to flip her and then I figured I'd just stay. Stop talking to me," he ordered. He paused. "Actually, Sora, you can talk to me. Kenchi, don't talk to me. And turn the TV down."

Kenchi muttered something under his breath and turned the volume down. Jasper grabbed a lollipop from the vending machine, opened it, and popped it in his mouth, dropping the wrapper on the floor lazily. Then he joined the other two on the couch and blinked.

"Kenchi, turn on the MMA tournament."

"I don't wanna!"

"Do it."

"Fine…"

"We really did it, didn't we?" Haruka said excitedly. "After winning that competition, a video of our group was shown on the air. I heard we got a lot of views."

"I-I'm so glad we did well!" Yukiho cheered. "I was sure I messed up a couple times…"

"You did great," Makoto assured. "We all did great, otherwise we wouldn't have won."

"Your dancing was great, Makoto-chan," Yukiho offered.

"Yukiho-chan, you sounded really good!" Haruka exclaimed.

"And Haruka, you looked awfully cute," Makoto laughed. "We make a good team."

"Ohime-chan!"

"M-Makoto-chan…! I-is that really you?"

"Blarg. I don't like them already."

The three girls whirled towards the sound and found three boys staring back at them. One of them was Sora. The other two were unfamiliar.

"Hey Sora!" Makoto called. "Did you come to take _me_ on a date this time?"

"What do you mean 'this time'?"

"I wasn't spying on your date with Yukiho. What are you talking about?"

"…OK, fine with me." Sora gestured to the other two boys. "This is Jasper and Kenchi. Jasper hates the world and Kenchi is in love with you."

Kenchi blushed. "Don't just…tell her that!" he moaned. "Sora-kun, you're mean."

"That's exactly what I think!" Makoto gasped.

"H-he's not mean," Yukiho muttered. "He's actually really nice…" In fear of the other two boys, Yukiho scooted closer to Haruka.

"Wait, what did you say?" Haruka questioned. Yukiho blinked and blushed slightly.

"I-I mean…h-he's a man!" she announced.

Haruka nodded slowly. "OK…"

Jasper sighed. "Can I go home now?"

"No," Sora answered. "Introduce yourself."

"No. I hate you. Well, I don't hate _you_, but I hate the rest of them."

Yukiho squeaked.

"You're scaring her," Sora scolded. "Bad Jasper."

"Oh, woof woof," Jasper groaned. "I'm Fujiwari Jasper, you people annoy me, and I'm leaving now." Without another word, Jasper spun on his heels and left.

Kenchi watched him go and sighed. "Don't mind Jasper-kun. He's always cranky," he pointed out. "Ah…um, I'm Nakamura Kentaro, but you can just call me Kenchi…it's kinda like a nickname, but people call me that so much that I've given up on my real name, so…"

"Nice to meet you," Haruka said brightly.

Yukiho moved closer to Haruka and hid herself behind the girl, peering out occasionally to see if the unfamiliar boy was still there. He always was.

Makoto smiled awkwardly. "Nice to meet you," she exclaimed. "Um…I'm Kikuchi Makoto-"

"I know," Kenchi said quickly. "Er…not because I stalk you, or anything! It's just that I watch you all the time…on TV! I watch you on TV all the time so by now I've figured out your name…and stuff."

Makoto blushed slightly. "Um, right. I mean, that makes sense, right? Because I'm sure I watch people all the time…not like stalking watching, just…on television, or when I'm bored sometimes I stare at people because I zone out, and we should go out or something."

Kenchi smiled. "Makoto-chan, you're cute," he stated. "Wait…what was that last thing you said?"

Haruka giggled. Yukiho smiled. Makoto's blush deepened.

"Ah…! N-no, I didn't say anything, I was just thinking that I would love some muffins right now and there's a coffee shop right over there anyway, so if we were all going to go get muffins…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this…"

Kenchi giggled. "It's fine, neither am I," he admitted. "Actually, I think I would have done worse then you." He held out his hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Makoto-chan. Or, maybe you'd prefer Kikuchi-chan?"

"You can call me Makoto," Makoto insisted, shaking his hand. "It was nice to finally meet you too. And all that stuff. And I seriously do crave muffins right now."

Haruka suddenly cried out in delight. "A muffin date!" she yelled. "We should go on a muffin date! And Yukiho-chan can sit with Sora-kun who really is quite attractive, by the way, and Makoto-chan can sit with Kenchi-kun, and I can supervise, and we'll all get muffins!"

Yukiho stiffened. "I-I couldn't go on a double date with a man I don't know!" she cried, clutching at Haruka's shirt. Haruka giggled.

"Don't worry, Yukiho-chan. You'll sit with Sora-kun and me, and you can be sure we won't hurt you." Her grin suddenly turned slightly evil. "And well leave Kenchi-kun and Makoto-chan all alone. Would that be alright?"

Kenchi and Makoto turned the color of tomatoes. Haruka smiled sweetly, but at this point it still looked dark. Sora sighed.

"Haruka, don't torture them," he muttered. "Even if Makoto deserves it."

"I didn't do anything!" Makoto insisted.

"Whatever. Although a muffin date sounds like fun. I like muffins."

Haruka nodded excitedly. "Then, to the coffee shop we go! A muffin date, you guys!"

Practically hopping in her excitement, Haruka pulled Yukiho to the door of the coffee shop and waited for the others. Yukiho stuck closer to Haruka then to anyone else for the remainder of the day (she would have stuck to Makoto, but upon entering the coffee shop Haruka shoved her and Kenchi to a distant corner of the room, while herself, Sora, and Yukiho sat more in the open).

"So," Sora began, "you like…diamonds? Every girl likes diamonds, right?"

"…Sora-kun," Haruka responded. "You are very attractive. Please take care of Yukiho-chan as if she is a sister. Otherwise, if you act strangely Makoto-chan and I will be mad, and so will Yukiho-chan's father who may kill you."

Sora blinked. "Oh. Thanks for that."


	5. Chapter 5

_…in which a double-muffin-date ensues and Haruka has a dark side._

Makoto blinked. "OK, so, from looking at the menu I can see that you are very cute…I mean…! I-I can see that they have blueberry muffins…"

"Makoto-chan, you are adorable." Kenchi laughed lightly. "To be honest, this is my first date."

"Mine too," Makoto admitted. "Wait, this is a date?"

"Wasn't it supposed to be?" Kenchi asked. He shrugged. "I certainly wouldn't mind if it was."

Makoto tried to focus on the menu instead of the fact that she was currently on a date with a boy that actually wanted to be on a date with her. "Oh. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome, Makoto-chan. Do they have bran muffins?"

"Yeah."

"Bran muffins are boring. I want raspberry…"

"That's what I did to Sora last week!"

"So I hear that the two of you went on a date the other day," Haruka commented. "How did that go? Sora-kun, did Yukiho-chan hit you with a shovel, dig a hole, or all of the former?"

"None, actually," Sora said, surprising Haruka. "We sat rather far away and just talked the whole time. It actually went pretty well." He paused. "And, it wasn't a date."

"Makoto-chan said it was."

"How would she know?"  
"She was spying on you the whole time. Oops!" Haruka quickly covered her mouth. "Um…you two weren't supposed to know that…"

Sora sighed. "I knew she was among those circus cosplayers…"

"N-no you didn't," Yukiho corrected.

"Well, I kind of figured she would be. So, was she the mourning police siren that threw food at me, the barking duck princess in a hat store, the exercising musical nun cow, the cat-elephant-toilet, or…what was that last one?"

"I'm not sure, Sora-kun…I-I think it had a tree hat though."

"Let's call it a dancing whale tree. Which one was Makoto?"

Haruka placed a hand on her chin, her "nonowa" expression locked on her face. "Hm…Makoto-chan was the mourning police siren, I think."

"I knew she was the one that threw food at me!" Sora gasped. "I'm going to have to yell at her later."

"Y-you don't have to yell," Yukiho muttered. "I'm sure…she was probably just trying to make sure nothing happened…"

"Something _did _happen. We had a good time. That's what happened. Right?"

"Yes…th-that's what happened."

Haruka nodded, but something in her eyes showed that she wasn't convinced.

_I guess we'll see,_ she thought. _If Sora-kun does anything strange on this date it's obvious he was acting weird when he thought they were alone._

Makoto sighed. "I don't feel like standing up. You go get the muffins."

"But I just got back from a dance lesson," Kenchi whined. "You get them."

"How about we just admit we're both lazy bums and get Haruka to get them?"

"OK. HEY HARUKA-CHAN!"

Haruka turned and looked around for whoever had called her name. Kenchi waved. She smiled and waved back. Makoto motioned for her to join them at their table. Haruka nodded and said a few words to Sora and Yukiho, then she left to go to Makoto and Kenchi's table.

"Did you want something?" she asked.

"Haruka, we're lazy. Will you get our muffins?" Makoto begged.

Haruka blinked. "Since when were _you _lazy?"

"I deserve to be lazy today. Please?"

Haruka sighed. "Alright, I'll get the muffins. I may as well get my own while I'm there." She paused. "So, what kinds of dirty things have happened over here, hm?"

Makoto and Kenchi blushed. "N-nothing!" Kenchi insisted. "I-I didn't do anything! I haven't even held her hand yet!"

"Oh, it's so obvious you'd like to hold more then just her hand, Kenchi-kun…"

"Th-that's not true! Stop scaring her, Haruka-chan!"

Haruka laughed rather evilly. "OK, calm down. I'll just leave you two..._alone_. Have _fun_!"

"Stop it. Stop it now."

Haruka laughed again and joined the line.

Sora sighed. "Haruka went to the line without even asking what we wanted. Couldn't she have been our waitress?"

"I'll go get our stuff," Yukiho offered. A man walked up behind Haruka in the line and Yukiho stiffened. "N-never mind. Maybe you should get it."

Sora smiled kindly. "OK. What would you like?"

Yukiho thought about it. "Um…just some black tea, please."

Sora nodded. "OK. Hey, why don't you go sit with Makoto while I get our food? That way you wouldn't have to wait alone."

"But she's sitting with a m-man!" Yukiho gasped. "I-I can't…!"

"Don't worry about Kenchi," Sora laughed. "He's had his eye on Makoto for a couple years now. Trust me, he won't want anything to do with you. Just go sit with them. Plus, that way you could stop Kenchi from doing anything weird to Makoto."

Yukiho nodded slowly. "O…OK."

"…hey, Kenchi?"

Kenchi blinked. "Yes, Makoto-chan?"

"You know how sometimes, people start singing something, but then they decide they don't want to sing that song anymore so they start singing something else?"

"Yes, I do that sometimes."

"Me too. But then it sounds really weird, because…like, I'll start off singing Meisou Mind and then I think, 'no, I'd rather sing Jitensha,' and so I start singing that in the middle of Meisou Mind, and then…then it just sounds weird," Makoto finished. "You know?"

"Yeah, I agree."

Makoto nodded. "Yeah. I hate it when that happens," she laughed.

"M-Makoto-chan," came a familiar voice, "Makoto-chan, c-can I sit here? Please?"

Makoto turned. Yukiho was standing by an empty chair that had obviously just been dragged to the table right next to Makoto. She had a stiff expression on her face. Makoto smiled.

"Sure. Did Sora abandon you?" she asked.

Yukiho shook her head and sat. "No, he just went to go get our stuff, and he sent me over here to wait for him…"

Makoto shrugged. "That was nice of him, I guess. Oh, Yukiho, this is Kenchi." She gestured to the dark-blue-haired boy across from her, who waved politely.

Yukiho squeaked.

Kenchi blinked. "Um…nice to meet you too," he said.

Yukiho squeaked again and looked away.

Makoto laughed nervously. "Don't mind her, she's just terrified of you."

"I-I didn't even do anything!"

"No, not of you, like, you, but you like all men on this planet except for Sora and Producer."

Kenchi nodded slowly. "Ah. Well, if it helps any I have no intention of doing anything weird to any girl except Makoto-chan…WAIT! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" He blushed. "I-I don't mean…that is, I'm not saying I'm going to do anything weird to you, it's just…i-if I were to do something to anyone it would definitely be you because I love you…I mean…!"

Makoto blushed and smiled awkwardly. "It's OK. But seriously, if you touch me I will punch you in the face."

Kenchi nodded slowly. "R-right. That makes perfect sense."

Yukiho squeaked.

"Yukiho, honey, use your words."

"P-please don't t-touch Makoto-chan," Yukiho said quietly.

Kenchi's blush deepened. "Of course I won't."

Yukiho nodded. "If you do I will be forced to hate you…"

"Oh. I certainly wouldn't want you to hate me."

"Yes…n-no one would…although, I-I'm not really capable of hate, so I would just strongly dislike you."

Makoto shrugged. "You can leave the hatred to me," she commented. "Look, Haruka got our muffins."

Haruka approached the table, carrying a tray of muffins. She seemed to be coordinating her steps very carefully. "OK, I'm trying really hard not to trip and spill this everywhere. I think it's working…there we go! Makoto-chan, this muffin is yours, and this muffin is Kenchi-kun's. Yukiho-chan, what are you doing over here?" she added.

"Sora-kun told me to sit with Makoto-chan while I waited for my tea," Yukiho explained. "But now that you're back, I suppose I could go back to the table with you."

Haruka nodded. "It might be nice to leave these two alone as much as possible."

"B-but if we leave them alone Kenchi-kun might do something perverted to Makoto-chan!"

"Exactly. And we don't want to be around when he does, right? I think it'd be funnier to watch Sora-kun and you anyway, Yukiho-chan."

Makoto sighed. "Cut it out, you guys. It's just the first date."

"Are you insinuating there will be more dates?" Haruka suggested. "Ooh, Makoto-chan! That's so wonderful for you! Looks like you found a male fan after all."

"I have plenty of male fans," Makoto muttered. "I just…I just have way more female fans. Like, my fan population is about 96% female and 4% male. That's all."

Haruka shrugged. "Still, it's great that you have a boyfriend now."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Makoto said quickly. She felt her face grow warm. "Geez, Haruka, stop embarrassing us! Just go eat at your own table!"

Haruka waved her hand at them. "Sorry, it's just so fun to tease you, Makoto-chan. You make it kind of easy, actually."

"Haruka, you're a jerk."

"Sorry! Yukiho-chan, let's go back to our table," Haruka invited Yukiho, who nodded and stood.

"Goodbye, Makoto-chan," she squeaked. "G-goodbye, Kenchi-kun. Please don't be weird."

"I'm not even doing anything," Kenchi sighed. "Bye, Yukiho-chan."

"Hagiwara-chan! C-call me Hagiwara-chan!"

"R-right! Hagiwara-chan!"

Yukiho bowed slightly and hustled over to her table. Haruka waved and followed her. On her way to the table, she tripped over one of the chairs and fell to the ground with a "crash". She stood awkwardly and brushed herself off.

"Karma!" Makoto shouted to her.

"Here you go," Sora announced, placing a cup of tea in front of Yukiho. Yukiho smiled shyly.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. Sora nodded.

"You're welcome." He took his seat. "So, how are things over there?"

"Is Kenchi-kun a pervert?" Haruka asked suddenly. Sora blinked.

"Um, no," he answered awkwardly. "At least, not as far as I know."

"Because he seems like that kind of person. He's an awkward kid, isn't he?"

"So is Makoto," Sora pointed out. "They're perfect for each other."

"Am I an awkward kid?" Yukiho asked.

"Nah, you're just a cute kid. Drink your tea now so we can go home," Sora ordered.

Yukiho blushed. "O-OK."

The five friends wandered out of the coffee shop together. Haruka had since decided teasing people was cruel and was now simply chatting about penguins. They paused outside the coffee shop to say goodbye.

"It was nice meeting you, Sora-kun and Kenchi-kun," Haruka said sweetly.

"Nice meeting you too, Haruka-chan," Kenchi replied.

"Nice to meet you, I guess." Sora shrugged. "Anyway, Kenchi and I have a singing lesson to get to so we should go."

"The two of you are also idols?" Yukiho guessed.

Sora nodded. "Well, kinda. I mean, I still have to do lessons with everyone else, but I'm more like an idol fill-in."

"Oh…th-that makes sense."

Sora nodded. "Yeah…seriously though, we should go," he declared. Kenchi sighed.

"OK, just a minute." He walked over to Makoto and smiled. "Um…it was nice meeting you, Makoto-chan. I had a good time…"

Makoto blushed. "Y-yeah, me too," she stammered. Haruka giggled.

"So, I should probably be going now…and stuff."

"Yeah…"

"…yeah."

"…Uh-huh."

Kenchi blinked.

"You should…like…go home now. Or something," Makoto said quietly.

Kenchi nodded. Then, without warning, he lurched forwards and kissed her.

Yukiho squeaked. Haruka grinned. Sora shook his head.

Makoto blushed harder. Kenchi released her and pulled back, blushing madly.

And then Makoto slapped him.

Kenchi stumbled back. "I-I-I'm so sorry…! I didn't mean to kiss you…um, I-I've wanted to for a long time, though, so…"

"We just met and you're already kissing me?" Makoto snapped. "I mean, it's not that I didn't _enjoy _it a little, but…w-we just met!"

Kenchi nodded slowly. "…would you let me do it again the next time we go on a date?"

"…probably."

"Then, I'll think of something, OK? And Sora-kun can take me to the agency and I'll pick you up."

Makoto turned away, still blushing. "O-OK. And…sorry for slapping you."

Kenchi laughed nervously. "I probably deserved that…"

Sora sighed loudly. "Look, as much fun as it is to watch you guys have a love-fest, we have to _go_. Like, now. As in, right now, now. So let's go."

Kenchi nodded again. "R-right. Goodbye, Makoto-chan…"

Makoto smiled awkwardly. "Bye…"

Yukiho allowed herself to smile. _I'm glad Makoto-chan and Kenchi-kun seem to be getting along so well. Maybe they'll become a couple…?_

Haruka laughed darkly. "Hm…the two of you have just met and you already kissed her? I wonder what kinds of things you'll try when you're better acquainted," she muttered.

Makoto blushed again. "Would you stop? You've been teasing us all day."

"Because it's fun!"

"Haruka, don't be mean…"

Sora jogged over to Kenchi and grabbed his wrist, then started dragging him away from the three girls. "We. Are. Leaving. _Now_," he announced.

Kenchi blinked and followed him. "O-OK. Bye, Hagiwara-chan. Bye, Haruka-chan. Bye…Makoto-chan."

The two boys vanished into the sea of buildings, leaving just the three girls. Haruka nodded.

"Sora-kun is attractive," she stated bluntly.

"Y-yes, I suppose…" Yukiho mumbled.

Haruka grinned evilly.

"What?"

"You like him, don't you?" Haruka asked.

Yukiho blushed. "O-of course not…! H-he's a man!"

"Besides, if Sora's going to go out with anyone in this group more then once, it's gonna be me," Makoto sighed. "Because everyone knows handsome people go together perfectly."

"So do socially awkward perverts."

"Exactly. Wait…what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing…nothing at all. And technically, Sora-kun and Yukiho-chan have already gone on more then one date…"

Yukiho squeaked loudly again.

Makoto moaned in annoyance and took Yukiho's hand. "Whatever. Let's go home."


	6. Chapter 6

_…in which Makoto and Sora awkwardly discuss coconuts._

It was early afternoon. After returning from an autograph signing/CD sales event, the idols were spending time relaxing in the agency.

And Sora had shown up also.

Yukiho was positioned in a corner of the room, with Makoto on one side and Takatsuki Yayoi on the other. Next to Yayoi was Iori. Yukiho looked across to the rich young miss and smiled.

"I-Iori-chan…Iori-chan, your dress today is very pretty," she commented.

Iori blinked. "Why, thank you! I just had it dry-cleaned yesterday. I suppose you look pretty as well. Certainly not as pretty as me, but still."

Yukiho smiled brighter. "Thank you, Iori-chan," she said gratefully.

Sora crossed the room to her. She moved closer to Yayoi. Makoto moved closer to her, so Sora sat next to Makoto.

"So how are you guys?" he asked.

Makoto shrugged. "Fine."

"I-I'm alright," Yukiho mumbled. "What about you?"

Sora grinned. "Thank you for asking. I'm fine. Hey, you know what's bugging me?"

"What?" Makoto prompted.  
"Coconuts. You know? I'm really craving coconut. It's so soft and…white. And milky. On the inside, at least, and on the outside it's round, and…" Sora broke off. Makoto had a rather awkward look on her face. Iori coughed and squirmed. Yayoi and Yukiho just looked around obliviously. "Did I say something wrong?"

"The way you described coconuts," Makoto began quietly, "was very awkward, Sora. It sounded like you were describing something else. Something…female."

Sora blinked. "Why, what did I…?' He paused. "OH! No! Th-that's not what I meant!"

Iori nodded slowly. "Whatever you say, Sora…just, don't say such awkward-sounding things."

Yayoi and Yukiho looked confused. "What did he do?" Yayoi asked her best friend. Iori shook her head.

"Never mind," she said dismissively.

There was silence. Sora blinked again.

"OK, how does a coconut have any resemblance to a woman's breast?!" he demanded suddenly. "I mean…coconuts are brown, and hard, and…hairy!"

"How do you know a woman's breast isn't brown and hard and hairy?" Makoto snapped, crossing her arms across her chest. Iori folded her arms and shot Sora a glare. Yukiho squeaked and pressed against Yayoi, who just sat there looking confused.

Sora blushed. "My old girlfriend," he stated simply, shuddering.

Makoto stared at him. "…she was a freak, huh?"

"Yeah. Like…even more of a freak then you. That's how much of a freak she was."

"I-I'm not a freak, you jerk!"

Yayoi suddenly smiled. "I like coconuts, Sora-san," she announced. "They taste delicious. In fact, Ritsuko-san said she would get me a coconut and bring it to the agency, because she was out running errands anyways, and so she was going to get me a coconut."

Sora smiled back. "I like coconuts too," he told her.

Iori snickered. Makoto blushed.

"I mean actual coconuts! Haven't we already been over this?" Sora sighed.

"I will never be able to hear the word 'coconut' the same way again," Makoto moaned. "Thanks for ruining coconuts for me."

"Me too," Iori chimed. "Sora, you have successfully forced me into a coconut-free diet."

"That's _not_ what I meant, OK?"

Just then, Ritsuko walked into the room carrying bags full of items. "Oi!" she exclaimed. "Yayoi, come on over here and get your coconut!"

Makoto blinked. "…Yayoi, can I borrow your coconut real quick?"

Iori giggled.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN! I-I mean the actual coconut!"

Yayoi cocked her head, obviously still very lost as to why the word "coconut" was suddenly so wrong. She didn't see any reason as to not let Makoto use her coconut, so she said, "Sure. You can have my coconut. Please do not eat it though."

Makoto and Iori tried not to squirm.

"Thanks." Standing slowly, Makoto went to Ritsuko and retrieved Yayoi's coconut, and then she headed off towards an empty, closed-off room in the agency. She opened the door. Just before she vanished into the room, Sora saw her slip her sleeve off her shoulder and then close the door behind her, still holding the coconut in her hand.

Sora blinked. "Please tell me she's not planning on sticking that coconut in her bra," he muttered to Yukiho. Yukiho shrugged.

"I-I don't know." She moved even closer to Yayoi, who moved closer to Iori, who moved away awkwardly.

Yayoi cried out in annoyance. "I wanted to eat that coconut! But I can't if Makoto-san gets her chest all over it…"

"I don't think that's its plan," Iori admitted, shrugging. "It's probably just going to hit itself on the head with it. That's what idiots do, right?"

"Makoto-chan is a girl," Yukiho pointed out.

Iori raised an eyebrow. "Your point, please?"

"You called her an 'it'."

"… Your point, please?"

"She's not an it."

"She's an idiot, right?" Iori confirmed. "Therefore, an it."

Sora laughed despite himself. "I'd say she's more of a freak then an idiot," he remarked, addressing Iori.

"Stop being mean to her!" Yukiho whined. "I-I like Makoto-chan!"

"I like Makoto-san too," Yayoi commented. "Not as much as I like you, Iori-chan. But she's nice and funny."

Iori sniffed. "Hmph! I don't understand why you associate with such people, Yayoi-chan," she sighed. "Honestly…"

Then the door opened again. Makoto had a triumphant look on her face as she crossed back to the couch and handed Yayoi her coconut, which Yayoi accepted excitedly. Makoto plopped down in-between Yukiho and Sora.

"Sora, you were right. A coconut does not have any resemblance to a woman's breast. I just checked," she declared.

A silence fell over the room.

Sora dropped his face in his hand. "You _checked_?"

Makoto shrugged. "Well, we were talking about it and we had a coconut anyways, so I figured, 'hey, why not test that theory'? So…so I did. And you were right."

"Is this still edible?" Yayoi wondered aloud.

"Of course it's edible! I just looked at it!" Makoto insisted.

Yayoi shrugged and brought her coconut to Producer to have it broken open so she could eat it.

"…although, now that I think about it, on the inside coconuts and breasts are very similar," Makoto murmured to herself.

"Why the heck are you still talking about this?!" Sora cried.

Makoto blinked. "Well, I mean, it's true, right? Coconuts are soft and white and milky. And soft. And they smell nice."

Yukiho squeaked. "H-h-how would you know what a b-breast smells like?" she whined.

Makoto blushed. "I-I…"

"Did you sniff your mom's breast when you were a nursing baby or something?" Iori asked. "That's weird, stupid."

"I did not! I-I'm just making assumptions!" Makoto insisted. "Honestly, guys…"

"GIRLS! We're girls!" Iori snapped.

"That's what I said to Sora when we first met!"

"No one cares!"

Yukiho raised her hand. "I care…"

Sora nodded. "I remember what Iori-chan said to me when we first met," he sighed.

"And what was that?" Makoto pressed.

"'You're hot'."

"Oh."

Sora smiled. "Well, now that the subject has been changed-"

"And they taste good," Makoto broke in. "Coconuts, that is. I have no idea what a breast tastes like. I wonder if it tastes milky…? Or maybe it depends on the soap you use. Like, the soap I use is cucumber melon. Maybe my breast tastes like cucumber melon." She blinked and smirked. "Hey Sora, would you like to see if my breast tastes like cucumber melon?"

Sora's face turned the color of a knitted crimson sweater. "W-why on _Earth_ would I _ever_ want that?!" he yelled., scooting away from the girl.

Makoto laughed lightly. "Don't worry, I was totally kidding. If you actually tried anything like that I would kill you with spiky weaponry. And that goes for Yukiho's breasts too, OK?" she warned.

Yukiho squeaked so loud Yayoi and Makoto had to cover their ears. She cowered into Makoto's arm.

Sora's blush didn't go down. "…right. Got it."

A young woman came in through the door with a lollipop. She had a short, boyish-cut head of brown hair and hazel eyes, and for some reason, Makoto faintly recognized her.

Sora yelped. "NO! NOT FANGIRL #460!"

The young woman grinned evilly. "You never said 'why would I want to', Sora," she hissed creepily.

Sora squirmed. "Stop it. I thought that would be implied."

The young woman started breathing heavily. "You didn't say it, so it wasn't implied," she said carelessly. Yukiho burrowed further into Makoto's arm. Makoto hugged her gently.

Sora gulped. "Well, I would never want to. Ever. In my life. _Ever_."

The girl shrugged. "Whatever you say, you gorgeous teenaged boy. I love you." Then she walked over to Makoto and planted a kiss on her cheek. "That's from my sister."

Makoto yelped loudly. "W-what?! W-who is your sister?"

"Grace. I'm Jo."

"Oh…that explains a lot. Tell your sister that she is a freak and I hate her."

"She knows. I tell her daily."

"Thanks."

"Bye you freak, you cute little rich snob, you adorable energetic freak, you shy little nutcase, and you gorgeous boy," Jo listed. "Bye." She left the room, but not before Jasper showed up at the doorframe.

"You took my lollipop!" he accused. "Give it back."

"No." Jo licked the entire perimeter of the lollipop, then leaned in and kissed Jasper on the cheek. "You are lovely darling."

Jasper rubbed his face. "Stupid woman. Yo Sora, never forget you aren't the only one with fangirls," he ordered. Then he turned and stalked off, Jo following.

Producer blinked, still working at opening the coconut for Yayoi. "That was weird," he announced.

Iori straightened happily. "That lady gave me four titles," she said proudly.

"One of them was 'snob'," Makoto pointed out. "Congratulations, you little brat."

"Yours was 'freak'! Just 'freak'! Nothing but 'freak'!"

Makoto pursed her lips. "It was '_you _freak', duh. Use your ears," she pouted.

Iori tossed her hair. "Nihihi! I have people who use their ears for me," she laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

_…in which Sora asks Yukiho on a _real _date and Makoto's entourage gains new members._

"Ojou-sama!"

Yukiho blinked, hearing the voice of one of her father's men calling to her. "Y-yes?" she called back.

"Ojou-sama, there is a boy here to see you."

Slightly confused, Yukiho stood up from her bed and wandered downstairs. Waiting for her was Sora and the servant who'd called for her. When she entered the room, the servant bowed and exited. Yukiho offered Sora a shy smile.

"Hello, Sora-kun. Isn't my house big?" It was the only thing Yukiho could think of.

"It is a very large house," Sora agreed. "Ohime-chan, I have a question."

"Yes?" Yukiho pressed.

"Would you like to go to a restaurant?"

Yukiho blushed. A week had passed since Sora and Yukiho had last seen each other, and she was a little anxious to spend time with him. But the idea of being alone with a man still frightened her greatly. She would've preferred it if Sora had invited her to bring one of her parents or friends along, but from the look on his face, he was only interested in seeing Yukiho. She blinked.

"Um…well, you see, I have to go to the post office to get some…surgery," she said quietly.

"That's offensive," Sora complained. "Stop."

Yukiho looked down. A familiar figure bolted down the stairs and ran into her, trapping its "victim" in a hug.

"S-surgery?!" the person gasped. "Y-you didn't tell me…you were getting _surgery_! And at the POST OFFICE?!" After hearing the person's voice, Yukiho could tell it was Makoto.

One of Yukiho's servants shivered. "The post office gives terrible surgery, Ojou-sama," he told Yukiho. "I know from experience."

"Since when does the post office offer surgery?" Sora asked.

"Since Halloween last year," Makoto answered. She squeezed Yukiho tighter. "Yukiho! I won't let you go through with this! Surgery is t-terrifying!"

Yukiho shrugged as best she could with a Makoto on her arms. "I-I'm OK with it…"

"Well, I'm not!"

"Are we going to go on a dinner date or not?" Sora sighed.

Yukiho blushed. "W-what?"

"A date?" Makoto detached herself from Yukiho and crossed over to Sora. "What do you mean, a date? Wait…you want to take me on a date?" She blushed and giggled. "Oh Sora, that's so sweet…I mean, it's a little awkward but if you insist—"

"I wasn't talking to you," Sora said quickly. "I meant Ohime-chan. And…did I say date? I meant…plate. Like, 'oh look, it's a plate! And I'm eating off of it!'."

"A dinner plate? You want to take Yukiho on a dinner plate? What?" Makoto shook her head. "Is that even…you know, possible?"

"Entirely," Sora lied. "Now, come on, Ohime-chan. Let's go on a dinner…plate."

Yukiho gulped. _What should I do…? _she thought desperately. A part of her was telling her to trust Sora, while another part insisted that all men were terrifying, disgusting creatures and she should run. But in the end, her trusting side won out and she stepped towards Sora. "OK," she said shakily. "I-I'll go on a dinner…plate…with you. P-Please take care of me…!"

Makoto watched her best friend and Sora walk out of Yukiho's house together (she herself had been invited to stay at Yukiho's house for a while), shaking her head in disgust.

"A dinner plate? Really?" she sighed, taking out her cell-phone. "Honestly, Sora. I'm not _that_ dumb." Dialing a number, she lifted the receiver to her ear. "…hey there, Hibiki! Listen, I'm gonna need your help again…yes, you can wear your costume. …what? What do you mean, 'more backup'? There's already like…five of us. …the Futami twins? …Hibiki, you are an evil genius."

Sora opened the door for Yukiho, granting her easy access to This Restaurant, their place of dining for the evening. Yukiho smiled shyly at him and stepped forwards.

"For the last time, no one is yelling, you bumbling moron!" shouted a relatively tall teenaged boy. His comment was directed towards a rather portly man with a sad face and a fragile disposition. The latter ran off crying and the teenager sighed, going quickly to the host's booth at the front of the restaurant. "Hi, how may I help you?"

Yukiho, frightened by the appearance of an unfamiliar man (and a yelling man, no less), started to move closer to Sora as she would usually do, but then she realized her mistake and simply scooted against the far wall.

Sora smiled sympathetically. "Just a table for two please. Hey Logan, that's you, right?"

The other man smiled. "Yeah, and you're Sora, aren't you? And isn't that Hagiwara Yukiho-san?" he confirmed, gesturing to Yukiho, who squeaked.

"Yes, that's her," Sora answered.

"Ooh, Sora, lucky boy. You got a date with such a pretty young girl," Logan said cheekily, leaning forward to nudge the younger boy playfully with his elbow.

Sora blushed. "Stop," he ordered. "Just…get us a table. Ohime-chan, come on…"

"OK! First things first, we need costumes, codenames, and distraction noises. Ami, Mami, Yayoi…and you, Azusa-san…you can't let them recognize you. OK?"

Makoto was debriefing her new spy team on the procedures required for their detective work on Yukiho and Sora. Ritsuko would not be joining them today, and instead they'd gained four new members; Takatsuki Yayoi, the twins Futami Ami and Futami Mami, and Miura Azusa.

Azusa raised her hand quietly.

"Yes! Azusa-san!"

"Will we get to order some food?" Azusa asked. "Logan-san is so nice and This Restaurant has such great food."

"We're not going to This Restaurant to eat food, Little Miss," Ami hissed, adjusting the "spy shades", as she called them, on her face. Her sister laughed haughtily and flicked at the slightly-smaller "spy shades" on her own face.

"Eat. Ha. That's funny," she muttered. "What kind of detective do you plan on being, Cadet? The lazy kind, like MikiMiki?"

Miki lifted her chin, obviously proud to be "the lazy one" on the team.

"We run the show 'round these parts of the woods, OK?" Ami demanded, glaring ominously at Azusa.

Makoto threw her shoes at them.

Ami flinched. "Waah! Makochin's angry!" she yelped.

"It's Makochin's dreaded Shoe Chuck move!" Mami wailed.

"Don't you sass me!" Makoto ordered. "_I'm_ in charge around here, you fools! Do you understand me?"

"Yes Sir, Makochin!" Ami recited, saluting.

"Yes Sir, Pickled Ham!" Mami replied.

Makoto smirked. "Oh…I'm not Pickled Ham anymore," she said quietly, lifting up her new costume.

The twins' eyes widened and they grinned.

Yukiho shifted uncomfortably. Logan had made the attempt to be their waiter, but Yukiho's fear of him kept him from getting her drink order. In the end, he'd sent a waitress instead. Sora sent her away, however, when she started flirting with him incessantly. Now the pair was waiting for a new waitress.

"Do you like This Restaurant?" Sora asked.

"I've never been here," Yukiho admitted.

"Oh, It's delicious," Sora assured her.

Yukiho nodded slowly and started rocking in her chair. A waitress came out and looked immediately to Yukiho. Sora breathed a sigh of relief.

"May I take your order?" the waitress asked.

"I'll have some tea," Yukiho murmured.

"Just some milk," Sora told the waitress.

The waitress offered him a simple smile. "OK. I'll be right out."

"Thank you. Thank you so very much."

"Um…you're welcome, Sir."

"Now, from now on I shall be known as…SUPER SQUID MAN…WOMAN! …GIRL PERSON…SQUID! OK?"

"Yes! Ami and Mami accept this name-change, oh Makochin Leader Principal Sir!"

"NO! I am Super Squid Man Woman Girl Person Squid!"

"Yes Sir!"

Miki yawned. "Makoto-kun, you're making a scene," she commented carelessly.

Makoto glared at her past the eye holes in her squid costume. "That's Super Squid Man Woman Girl Person Squid to _you_, cadet."

"Miki is Sparkly Kitty-Cat, though…"

Azusa clapped her hands in delight. "A spandex superhero costume on top of a squid costume…how creative of you, Makoto-chan! And I decided to go with a simple meat kabob…"

The waitress returned, carrying a glass of milk and a cup of hot tea on a platter. She placed the drinks in front of the person to whom it belonged.

"Can I get you anything to eat?" she asked pleasantly.

"I want Something with a side of Stuff and some Food sprinkled on the top, if that's OK," Sora announced.

"I-I would like some Edible Stuff, please," Yukiho responded.

The waitress laughed. "Alright, some creative food choices! Lately all anyone ever wants is Fish and Stuff. I'll get that for you right away." Then she left.

Sora looked over at Yukiho. "So you're saying you have never tried Food."

"Not o-once."

Sora laughed. "Wow, this is a weird conversation. You've never had food. Are you…anorexic?"

"O-o-of course not!" Yukiho gasped, scooting back against her chair.

"I was kidding!" Sora insisted. "Now…what's your favorite movie?"

Back at their table, Makoto was quizzing her group on their costumes, distraction noises, and codename. She turned first to Iori.

"You! Name," she demanded.

"Pink Orangutangular Dolphin!" Iori answered.

"Costume!" Makoto shouted.

"Princess dress and a duck bill!" Iori responded

"Noise!" Makoto ordered.

"Yipping dog!"

"Good," Makoto approved. "Spy tool of choice?"

"Binoculars, you thing."

"Good. Miki!"

"Miki is Sparkly Kitty-cat, Miki's costume is a ninja samurai in Las Vegas, and Miki is a flushing toilet in the key of A flat."

"…I'll still never get that."

"Oh, and Miki spies with a kaleidoscope.'

"OK, Azusa-san?"

"I'm Fluffy Brain! And my costume is a meat kabob. And my noise is the sound you get when you rub two pickles together. My spy tool is a pair of spectacles."

"Approved. Thing 1 and Thing 2?"

Ami leapt out of her seat, knocking over her water. "Sir! Ami is Herp Derp Sir! Ami's costume is a detective suit and huge shades Sir! And Ami's noise is a booing crowd Sir!" she listed. "Plus, Ami spies with her shades Sir!"

Mami copied her sister's movements. "Sir! Mami is Derpy Hooves Sir! Mami's costume is a detective suit and little shades Sir! And Mami's noise is a cheering crowd Sir! Mami also spies with her shades Sir!"

Makoto tried not to laugh at the fact that Iori was now drenched in water from sitting too close to the twins. "OK, and…Yayoi?"

Yayoi blinked. "Me…? Oh! Um, my name is Diamond Mailman, my costume is Abraham Lincoln with a chainsaw, and…my noise is random assorted construction noises, and I spy with my little eye—I-I mean, a magnifying glass…" she said. She smiled and handed Iori her napkin. "Do you like it, Iori-chan? Here, you can use my napkin."

Lastly, Makoto turned to Hibiki. "Hibiki?"

"I am Green Sarcophagus! My costume is…uh, well, ya see…it's that same weird thingy I wore last time, except I've gotta beard this time too! An' my noise is whale noises! Oh yeah, an' I use a monocle."

Makoto grinned. "We…are the single most inconspicuous and professional spies on Earth. We should join the CIA."

"…but apparently, she was amongst the circus cosplayers anyways! I wonder who the others were," Sora muttered to Yukiho. Yukiho smiled.

"Y-yes, I wonder too," she sighed. She took a bite of her food.

"You're really cute, you know," Sora said suddenly. He blushed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you but…you are just very cute."

Yukiho blushed also. "A-and you are…v-very kind. Thank you."

Sora smiled. "You're welcome," he murmured. Slowly, without realizing it, he reached for her hand. Yukiho let him hold it for a moment before yanking it away. "I-I'm sorry, Ohime-chan, I didn't realize…" Sora yelped. "Um…sorry."

"It's…it's OK," Yukiho insisted.

Sora nodded and took a bite of his food. "I'm glad. Wouldn't want you getting terrified, right?" He added a nervous laugh.

Yukiho felt herself relaxing and smiled. "No…we wouldn't want that."

"Still no strange movements?" Makoto asked.

"Negatory, Super Squid Man Woman Girl Person Squid, Sir!" Azusa chanted. "They have been eating this whole time. Oh, how cute! They make a nice couple."

Makoto hit her with her shoe. "That is a nay, Fluffy Brain. You see, we are here today to _stop _this…'couple'…before it starts. Do you understand?"

Azusa nodded slowly, obviously a little disappointed that she had to take part in stopping a couple. The spy group was near silence for a long time, carefully watching the two eat and converse, occasionally making small talk themselves.

But then the cry was loosed that would give them their most important job of all.

"He's goin' in!" Hibiki cried. "ALERT! ALERT! CODE BLORANGE! I REPEAT, CODE BLORANGE!"

"Code _blorange_?!" Makoto gasped, peering into her telescope. "B-but…that means…!"

Sure enough, Sora was currently leaning closer to Yukiho.

He was trying to kiss her.

Sora didn't know if this was a good idea or not. He didn't know if Yukiho would allow him to kiss her or if she would shove him away. But they'd known each other for a couple of months now, and one thing Sora did know was that he loved Yukiho, and he wanted to kiss her, even though she currently had a horrified expression on her face and was squeezing against the back of her chair desperately.

"S-S-Sora-kun…Sora-kun…! W-wait," Yukiho begged.

Sora didn't bother listening to her even though a part of him said he should have.

This was a huge mistake, because the oddly-dressed group of "circus cosplayers" was eyeing him carefully, and they knew what was happening.

"What do we do!?" Makoto cried. "Ah, my poor little Yukiho! Look at her face! She looks terrified! Somebody…somebody do something!"

"The Derps!" Hibiki gasped. "Quick! Someone throw 'em at Sora!"

"I _got _this!" Makoto yelped, jumping to her feet. She hoisted Ami into her arms.

"Whee!" Ami exclaimed happily.

Hibiki jumped up also and picked up Mami.

"Whoo!" Mami cheered.

"Ready…" Hibiki hissed through gritted teeth.

"Aim…" Makoto muttered, squinting her eyes. She lifted Ami to her shoulders. Sora moved in so close that he was only centimeters from Yukiho's face.

"Fire!" Hibiki shouted, and both girls chucked their twin at Sora and Yukiho's table.

The twins landed squarely between the "couple" and broke them apart, laughing wildly. Sora fell back into his seat with a cry. Yukiho screamed in alarm.

"Hi darling," Ami said simply, rolling over on the table to face Sora. "You are hot. Thank you for the kiss on the cheek you accidentally gave Ami-Ami means-that is, Herp Derp."

"Mami-Derpy Hooves-wanted one too," Mami whined.

"W-w-what are you two d-d-doing here?" Yukiho wondered.

"Spying and interrupting your little kiss," Ami said with a wink.

Sora wiped his lips with his napkin. "OK…ew."

The spies let out a victory screech.

Ami and Mami stood up and brushed themselves off. "Our work here is done." Mami declared. "Now return to your happy lives, you…people. Derpy Hooves, AWAY!"

"Herp Derp, ALSO AWAY!"

"So, how did you enjoy yourself?" Sora mumbled bitterly. "I sure did have fun."

"I actually really did have fun," Yukiho remarked quietly. "Honestly. Thank you, Soa-kun. But…when you tried to k-kiss me…that was really scary. Please don't ever do it again…!"

Sora nodded absently. "I should turn you over to Makoto. She's waiting for you, I'm sure. Let's get you home…"

"Yukiho!"

Yukiho was suddenly bowled into by a person in a squid costume and a superhero outfit. She yelped.

"Yukiho, you're OK! Oh, cute, sweet little Yukiho, don't you ever scare me like that ever again! I thought this guy was gonna take you from me forever! My gosh, if I weren't a squid I would give you a kiss on the cheek myself in love and relief. But mostly relief."

"W-who are you?" Yukiho cried.

"I am…Super Squid Man Woman Girl Person Squid!" the squid-person laughed. It ran over to Sora and hit him in the face with one of its tentacles, then it took off its shoe and hit him on the arm with it.

"Ow!" Sora exclaimed.

The squid-person put its shoe back on and then ran over to Yukiho and slung her over its shoulder. Yukiho cried out in shock. "Super Squid Man Woman Girl Person Squid...AWAY!" And then the squid-person joined the crowd of freakish "circus cosplayers" and ran back to what seemed to Sora like Yukiho's house, laughing and dancing with its friends. Yukiho made an annoyed cry the whole way home.

"Well," Sora commented after it was all over, "that was weird." Shrugging, he headed home. "I've learned a valuable lesson: never go anywhere or do anything where there are circus cosplayers, lest you kiss a Derp on the face by mistake."


	8. Chapter 8

_…in which Sora and Yukiho get locked in a closet and Kenchi's perverted side is _

_ revealed._

Yukiho sighed. After being kidnapped by the squid-person, she had been taken to her own house and was now simply marveling on the ridiculousness of her friend Makoto's costume—and on everyone else's costumes, too.

"I didn't realize you were strong enough to throw the twins," she commented to Hibiki and Makoto.

"Me neither," Hibiki admitted, pulling the trench-coat off her body and revealing a sequined go-go-girl dress.

"Yukiho, I can pick up _Producer_. I think I can handle the twins," Makoto laughed.

"You're so strong," Yukiho breathed in awe. "S-Sora-kun was…Sora-kun was trying to kiss me. It was scary."

Makoto blushed slightly. "You're flattering me," she muttered, addressing Yukiho's compliment. "But yeah, I saw what he was doing so we had to stop him."

"Ya mean, _I _saw what he was doin'," Hibiki pouted, shedding more of her crazy costume.

"Right, Hibiki saw, and we all reacted," Makoto corrected.

"Your squid suit scared me," Yukiho stated bluntly. "I-I thought you were some kind of…freak."

"She _is_ a freak." Iori snickered. "Your point?"

"W-why are you at my house?" Yukiho asked.

Hibiki and Iori blinked.

"Your house is big, Yukiho-san," Yayoi answered. "I wish my house were this big! This is like a mansion."

"Thank you…?"

"You're welcome, Yukiho-san."

"…s-seriously, why are you in my house?"

Hibiki and Iori ran out of the house, carting their costumes in large garbage bags.

Yukiho sighed. "I wouldn't have minded if they'd stayed, honestly…"

Makoto laughed. "Yeah, I think it would've been fun if they'd stuck around. Hey Yukiho, you wanna come down to my house tonight?"

Yukiho blinked, slightly surprised by the sudden invitation. "Huh?"

"Would. You. Like. To. Come. To. My. House."

"Oh. Um…I-I suppose."

"Cool, and Sora can come too! And we can have a sleepover! Ah…but, Sora couldn't stay for that. I don't think my dad wants boys in my room during the day, so never mind at night. Although I don't think I'd want a boy in my room at night anyways. What do you think, Yukiho?"

Yukiho shrugged. "I-I think…h-having a man in the room while I slept would be terrifying, unless it was my father," she explained.

Makoto nodded slowly. "…yeah, that makes perfect sense. My dad never does anything but push me to my limits, so I wouldn't know what it was like to have him in the room while I slept." A sad smile lit her face. "But you would know, right, Yukiho? What's it like?"

Yukiho smiled. "Well, it feels like…there's an angel there to watch over you while you sleep. Because…I trust my father, so when he lies down with me while I sleep, it feels like there's a bodyguard in the room to protect me. It's quite nice."

Makoto smiled grimly again. "…that sounds…really nice. I wish my dad would lie down with me sometimes. Because , sometimes I have nightmares and I'd really like some comfort since I'm scared, but I could never go into my parents' room. I'm scared my dad will yell at me, and my mom would probably be grouchy too because she really isn't a morning person. So sometimes, I just think happy thoughts until I've calmed down, and sometimes I just cry myself back to sleep. But if my dad were already in the room with me I wouldn't be as scared to ask him for comfort, because that would mean he cares at least a little, right?"

Yukiho felt tremendously saddened after her friend's speech. Even she hadn't realized Makoto yearned so badly for her father's love. She offered the girl a sympathetic smile.

"I think…I'll sleep in your bed with you tonight, Makoto-chan," she suggested. "So that way, if you have a nightmare, I can try to comfort you."

Makoto smiled bigger and hugged her. "Thank you, Yukiho. But, you know…I'd really like for my dad to do it too sometime. Maybe he could give me a kiss goodnight like some fathers do, and if he said he loved me right before I fell asleep, I think that would be really nice."

"Yes, it's really nice."

"You would know, huh?"

"Yes."

Neither of them noticed that the others (meaning Ami and Mami, Miki, Azusa, and Yayoi) had already gone home until they separated from the hug. Yukiho announced to her parents that she was spending the night with Makoto, and her parents gave her hugs and kisses and good wishes, as well as a warning to Makoto to keep her safe, before sending her off. Makoto led the girl back to her house.

"Kyoko, I have a question."

The dark-blue-haired girl turned her lazy eyes on her twin brother. "Yeah, Kench? What's up?"

"I have the sudden urge to bring Makoto-chan some cookies."

"That wasn't a question."

"Do you think I should?"

Kyoko sighed. "Look, Kenchi. If you have time to bake cookies and stalk your girlfriend, go ahead. But I don't know why you ask me these things."

Kenchi squirmed. "She's not my girlfriend, you know."

"But you wish she were," Kyoko responded cheekily.

"I don't know why you want her," piped the voice of the oldest member of the Nakamura family. Kyoko and Kenchi's older brother wandered down the stairs, collapsing on the couch beside his little brother. He blew black hair out of is face and draped a tanned arm over his brother's shoulders. "Isn't she, like…an A-cup?"

"K-Kyou-nii!" Kenchi gasped, blushing slightly. "I-I mean…that may be true but it really doesn't matter! How would you know that, anyways?!"

Kyou shrugged. "I dunno, but when you put her performances on the TV I can easily pick out that she's tiny."

"Th-that doesn't matter! She's still very cute and beautiful…"

"Azusa-san is way cuter and beautiful-er," Kyou gushed. "And…those BREASTS!"

"Would you shut up, perv?" Kyoko muttered, a blush lighting her cheeks. "Don't talk about women like that! And as for you, Kench…if you bake the cookies, I can look online for Makoto's address. 'Kay?"

"While you're at it, Kyoko…could you look up Azusa-san's address? I might want to rape her."

"_Kyou. _You are a _pervert_."

"Yup."

"I'm not finding her address. And don't rape people. Not only is it gross, it's also illegal."

Kenchi stood slowly. "…right, then. I'm going to make some cookies. Kyoko, please don't let Kyou-nii do weird things."

"Oh, believe me, I'll try."

"…and here we are. You have enough stuff, right?" Makoto asked Yukiho as the two, plus Sora, stood in front of her house.

Sora had had doubts about going to Makoto's house, but he was put at-ease when he learned Yukiho was going too and he wouldn't be forced to sleep with Makoto that night. Sora didn't consider himself a pervert and preferred not to share a bed with any woman but his wife. Unfortunately, his Colorado girlfriend had already ruined that for him (luckily, they had both been wearing all their clothes). He just didn't want it to happen again.

But despite his worries, there he was in front of Makoto's house, and Yukiho was there also, which excited him. Sora considered using this time to admit his feelings to the girl.

Makoto knocked on her door and her mother opened it. The woman smiled and surveyed the sight in front of her.

"Hello, Makoto. Welcome home. Ah, and you too, Yukiho. Welcome. Who is this young man?" Makoto's mother questioned, fixing her gaze on Sora, who waved.

"This is Sora. He's going to sleep with me tonight," Makoto said carelessly.

Her mother narrowed her eyes. "No he isn't, Makoto."

"I know. That would be weird. I was totally kidding. Seriously though, this is Sora, and he's coming over for a while. Don't worry, I'll be rid of him before nighttime. But Yukiho is staying the night. That's OK, right?"

Makoto's mother smiled. "You gave me quite a scare. To think you would even suggest something like that at your age…! What would your father have done?"

Makoto gulped. "Gosh, I'm scared to think about that…"

"I know. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine with it. Come on inside, Makoto, and your friends too. Don't forget to remove your shoes."

"Yes, thank you, ma'am."

As soon as her mother had left, Makoto led the other two teenagers inside and took off her shoes. "OK. Come on upstairs and I'll show you my room, Sora. Try not to let my dad see you, by the way. He'd probably eat you alive. Or maybe he'd make me eat you alive. Ew…that would be gross."

"One more thing," Makoto's mother called suddenly.

Makoto turned. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Makoto, why are you wearing a squid suit?"

Kenchi blinked. He wasn't entirely sure if the address Kyoko had found was right or not, and he was equally unsure as to whether or not Makoto even liked chocolate chip cookies. But he was willing to try if it meant the girl of his dreams would possibly reward him with a kiss. So he knocked.

It seemed to Kenchi that it was Makoto's mother who opened the door, since the woman had long hair and was wearing a dress. She seemed significantly older then Makoto also, and certainly too old to be an older sister. As far as he knew, Makoto was an only child, anyway. He smiled.

"Hello, Ma'am, my name is Nakamura Kentaro…um, I've come to visit Makoto-chan," he said politely.

Makoto's mother smiled back. "Are you staying here for a while too? Welcome."

"Ah…" Kenchi trailed off. "Um, I don't plan on staying…I was just going to deliver some cookies…"

Makoto's mother chuckled. "Well, if that's the case, please remove your shoes when you step inside. Or maybe, I could take the cookies to her if you like," she suggested.

"I-I'd rather deliver them myself," Kenchi muttered. Makoto's mother nodded and stepped back, giving the boy room to step inside. He did so, removing his shoes the second his feet hit the floor of Makoto's house. He gave a quick bow, and then headed upstairs.

"Do you know where her room is?" Makoto's mother asked. "I'll show you, Kentaro-kun. It's upstairs."

"I assumed it would be upstairs," Kenchi admitted. "Thank you, Ma'am."

"Are you sure your eyes are closed?"

"Positive."

"…you're really sure?"

"Yep, I'm really sure."

"…are you really, really sure? Because, I don't want you seeing me in my underwear…"

"Makoto. Take off the squid suit."

Makoto sighed. "Fine. But you'd better not look," she muttered to Sora, who was in her room, along with Yukiho, waiting for her to get changed so they could start the evening's festivities. Yukiho was sitting on Makoto's bed, while Sora was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the bed as Makoto so he couldn't see her.

Sora nodded, clasping his hand tightly over his eyes. "Why would I want to see you half naked anyways?"

"I dunno, because you're a guy, and guys find female undergarments attractive. Don't you know anything about men?"

"Of course I do. Now take off the suit."

Makoto nodded and unzipped the front of her squid suit. "OK. Yukiho, feel free to watch me if you want."

"Um…a-alright…?"

Makoto laughed. "Don't seem so shy about it," she ordered. "We're both girls and besides, you're my best friend."

Yukiho had just watched the squid suit drop from Makoto's body, leaving her only in her underwear, when she turned away out of respect. Makoto leaned down to pick up her shirt.

And then the door opened, revealing a now-very-embarrassed-looking Kenchi.

Makoto snapped her head up. Kenchi blushed.

"U-um…ah, I didn't realize…you were changing," Kenchi muttered awkwardly. "I-I'm sorry…"

Despite his apology, Kenchi continued to stare. Makoto blushed and held her shirt in front of herself to conceal her chest. "What are you doing at my house?"

"Um…I came to deliver some cookies…" Kenchi explained. His eyes drifted down to the lower segment of Makoto's body and Makoto dropped her shirt lower to conceal it, her blush deepening. Yukiho tapped her fingers nervously on Makoto's bed and Sora heaved a great sigh.

"W-well, don't jut stand there staring at me, you pervert!" Makoto yelped. "I-'m not decent!"

"R-right!' Kenchi gasped. He stepped inside Makoto's room and closed the door behind him. "There we go. Now no one else can see you…"

"Get out!" Makoto shrieked. "G-get out of my house, you perv! A-and stop staring at me…!"

Kenchi blushed. "Right…! I-I'm sorry!" he stammered, placing the platter of cookies on the ground. "Those are for you. Right. Um…you have a nice taste in underwear."

"S-stop that…!"

"I'm sorry!"

Quickly, Kenchi opened the door and hustled out of the room, re-closing the door behind him. Makoto moaned in annoyance and collapsed onto her bed. Yukiho shifted awkwardly and Sora chuckled.

"That kid is going to land himself in prison one day," he sighed.

"OK, you know what? I'm going to change my underwear. I feel like these ones have been soiled by eyeballs now. So Sora and Yukiho, you two go hide in my closet and I'm going to get naked," Makoto demanded. "OK?"

Sora blushed at the thought of being in a closet alone with Yukiho. But he figured it would make a nice opportunity to confess his feelings, so he stood and headed into the closet. Blushing almost as much as he was, Yukiho followed. Then Makoto closed the door.

"You kids have fun now, OK? But, not too much fun," Makoto warned, her voice muffled by the door.

"OK now," Sora agreed. "Don't worry."

Yukiho coughed awkwardly. "U-um…w-we're in a closet…" she mumbled.

"Yes, yes we are," Sora murmured. "I can't see. Hang on, let me find a light switch…" He began to grope around for a light switch. What his hand touched first was soft and round, and certainly didn't feel like a light switch to Sora. He blushed even harder.

_Please don't tell me it's…that thing… _he thought desperately. _Please don't be a "coconut"…_

"Um…that's not a light switch, is it?" he asked quietly.

"Not even c-close," Yukiho squeaked. She yelped and Sora yanked his hand away.

"…I am so sorry, Ohime-chan," he apologized fervently. "I was looking for a light switch…"

Yukiho moved her hand up the wall and found the light switch. She turned it on. "S-Sora-kun…! W-why did you…th-th-that was…!"

"I'm so sorry!" Sora insisted again. "I swear it was an accident…I'll burn my hand off if you want…!"

Yukiho shook her head. "Oh, no, y-you don't have to go that far! But…I'm not happy it happened. I'll accept your apology, but…oh, Sora-kun! I-I feel dirty…!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry!"

"I…I forgive you," Yukiho muttered.

Sora stared into her eyes, a gentle look on his face. "Ohime-chan…"

He reached out and held her cheek in his hand, moving closer. Yukiho blushed and scooted as far back against the wall as she could.

Then, Sora moved in as close as he could get and kissed her.

Yukiho spewed protests into his mouth, but Sora only kissed her deeper. At last, he pulled away, and Yukiho let out a cry of alarm.

"S-Sora-kun…!"

"I'm so sorry," Sora said again. "It's just…"

Yukiho looked down. "It's…i-it's OK…" she breathed.

"What?"

"I-it's OK…!" Yukiho repeated, clearer.

Sora blushed. "Ohime-chan…can I tell you something?"

"Y-yes…I suppose…"

"Ohime-chan…Yukiho…" Sora's eyes were warm. "I love you…"

Yukiho looked like she was going to pass out.

And pass out she did.

Sora cried out loudly in alarm. "O-Ohime-chan! What happened?"

The door few open, Makoto standing in the frame. "What the heck happened in here?!"

Sora looked over at her and then yelped and immediately turned away upon noticing that Makoto was completely top naked. "HOLY GAGA!" he screamed, shielding his eyes.

Makoto looked down and blushed, covering her chest with her arms. "Sora…! S-stop looking at me naked…!"

"I'm not looking at you!"

"Why is Yukiho passed out on the floor?!"

"I don't know! I just kissed her and told her I loved her and-"

"You WHAT?!"

The door to Makoto's room flew open again and this time, instead of Kenchi, Makoto's father was in the hallway.

"What on Earth is going on in here?!" the man demanded, surveying the situation. Makoto turned around and flung her arms in the air excitedly.

"Daddy!" she squeaked, then she realized her mistake and covered herself again. "Dad, Sora just made my best friend pass out…!"

"Why is there a boy in your closet?" Makoto's dad asked harshly, stepping into the room.

"Oh, Sora? Yeah, I kidnapped him. I-I mean…! He was staying over for a little bit…"

"Why you about to go into the closet with this boy half-naked?"

"I-I want to be a virgin…!"

"…what?!"

"I'm not going to rape him or anything! I-I promise!"

"Makoto, put a shirt on. Now."

"Y-yes sir…!" Makoto scrambled for a bra and a shirt while Sora continued to ignore everything and Yukiho eventually sat up. Makoto's father continued to yell some things at his daughter, then eventually just gave Sora a stern warning, ordered Makoto to exercise twice as long tomorrow and work past her limits as punishment for being "a lewd and perverted young woman" and paid no attention at all to Yukiho. Then he started to leave.

"Ah, Dad!" a now fully-clothed Makoto called after him. "Dad, would you sleep with me tonight?"

"What in the world makes you think I'd want to do that?" Makoto's father sighed. "To ask such a thing of your own father is truly irresponsible and inappropriate."

"Th-that's not what I meant! Geez, I just figured you could spend the night in my room with me and Yukiho tonight, because I know Yukiho's father does that with her sometimes so…" Makoto trailed off. "Um…I'm sorry for asking. It was a stupid request, anyways…"

Yukiho exchanged a glance with Sora. Both of them could tell how dejected Makoto was. Then they both blushed and proceeded to ignore each other.

Makoto's father rolled his eyes. "You're not a child anymore, Makoto. You don't need these things to make you sleep anymore. Now clean up this mess in your room, and tell that boy to get out of my house. Do you understand?"

Makoto nodded solemnly. "…yes sir."

"Good." Then her father had gone, leaving only Sora, Yukiho, and Makoto in Makoto's room. The depressed-looking Makoto turned her empty gaze on Sora.

"My dad says you have to go," she murmured. "Sorry."

"It's OK," Sora soothed. "My dad was never very touchy-feely either. It's probably just his way of trying to keep you his little girl, but at the same time he wants you to be independent enough to take care of yourself. In the end, he's just trying to protect you." He stood.

Makoto's face brightened. "You think so? …yeah, that makes so much sense! Thanks, Sora. Somehow I feel a lot better. Hey, feel free to stop by whenever you're around, OK?" she prompted.

Sora smiled. "You're welcome. Bye, Makoto. Bye…" He paused. "Um…bye, Ohime-chan."

Yukiho blushed. "Y-yes…goodbye."

After Sora left, Yukiho told Makoto about what happened in the closet. Her best friend was obviously extremely shocked, but to her credit, she didn't try to discourage the relationship. Instead, she did quite the opposite as the two friends lay in Makoto's bed that night.

"…hey, Yukiho?" Makoto whispered.

"Yes, Makoto-chan?"

"You know, Sora is really sweet," Makoto sighed. "I like him."

"Yes…I like him too," Yukiho admitted. "He isn't the way I always imagined men like him to be."

"You're lucky," Makoto giggled. "If I ever find a man half as good as Sora, I'll be happy. I think he's going to take good care of you."

"Thank you. So do I."

"Just...just promise me you won't let him replace me," Makoto begged. "Please?"

Yukiho smiled. "Of course he won't replace you, Makoto-chan," Yukiho promised. Makoto smiled too. She rolled over and wrapped her arms around her best friend. Yukiho held onto her arms and tilted her had against Makoto's.

"Thanks, Yukiho," Makoto murmured. "Yukiho…I love you. Like, my best friend in the world kind of love."

"I love you too, Makoto-chan. Um…l-like a best friend…!"

"Goodnight, Yukiho."

"Goodnight, Makoto-chan. Sleep well."

**(Author's Note: I think that may have been the cutest book chapter I have ever written~. :33)**


	9. Chapter 9

_ …in which Makoto and Jasper compete to prove their gender._

"OK, so, why am I here again?" Jasper moaned to Sora, who had "kidnapped" the boy and was currently at the park where he'd first met Yukiho and Makoto, waiting for the two girls to show up.

"I need you to keep Makoto entertained," Sora explained. "You think you can do that? So I can talk to Ohime-chan alone."

"I don't even like him," Jasper complained. "Why don't you just throw a stick? I'm sure he'll be entertained for hours."

"Makoto's a girl, Jasper," Sora sighed. "Come on, don't be mean. You don't exactly look like the world's most manly man either."

Jasper blushed slightly. "That doesn't matter! I look more like a guy than she looks like a girl." He paused. "…did you understand that?"

"Yeah, I get it," Sora agreed. "I don't know, I mean…I can kinda tell she's a girl. But I can definitely tell you're a boy. I'd say you're about equal."

"Heh. Equal. That's funny, Sora. Dude, I'm better then everyone at everything. I have never once lost anything in my life. I definitely look more like a boy than she looks like a girl," Jasper scoffed.

Jo suddenly appeared behind him. "Amen brother," she agreed. Then she left.

Jasper blinked. "OK, cool. You're sure you understand that?"

Sora was about to answer when Makoto and Yukiho showed up. Makoto waved and Yukiho hid behind her in fear of Jasper. Sora smiled and waved back.

"Hey, guys-"

"LADIES!"

"…hey, ladies. This is Jasper. He's going to be keeping you occupied, Makoto," Sora told them.

Makoto raised an eyebrow and placed her hand on her hip. "What do you mean, 'keeping me occupied'? So you can…rape Yukiho or something? I'm not letting that happen," she huffed.

"Not only is it gross, it's also illegal," Jasper added.

"I have no intention of doing anything like that," Sora sighed. "Really, guys…I just want to talk to her and I don't want you getting in the way."

"Ouch, Sora. That hurt."

"Just play with Jasper…"

Jasper stared at the boyish-looking girl for a long time. Then he nodded decisively. "Yep. I can't even tell it's a girl. I'm definitely more manly then she is feminine."

"What?!" Makoto gasped. "What's this all of a sudden? That is so not true! I'll bet you I'm way more feminine then you are manly! I mean…those eyelashes! And your hair!"

"Your FACE!" Jasper snapped.

Makoto narrowed her eyes. "…oh, it is so on."

"Fine! How about this, we each find three random pedestrians and have them stand here like the idiots they are, and then I'll go put on some manly clothes and you go put on a dress or something and attempt to make yourself look like a girl instead of a cross-dresser, and then we'll come back. And if I can get all three of my random pedestrians to say that they can tell I'm a boy, I win. But if you can get all three of your random pedestrians to say that they can tell you're a girl, then you win. OK?"

Makoto raised her hand.

"Yukiho?" Jasper called.

Yukiho squeaked.

"Oh, you don't have a question? OK. Sora?"

Makoto frowned and tapped her fingers on her leg.

"Yeah, why are you asking me if I have a question?" Sora asked.

"Good question! Now, in order to avoid that thing's question, I'm going to go into a detailed explanation of some law of physics! Now. The second law of thermodynamics states…"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Makoto moaned. "What if all three of your people say you're a boy, but all three of my people say I'm a girl? What then?"

Jasper chuckled darkly. "Oh, that won't happen. Trust me. Now, I'm gonna go to that store and get some dude clothes. You go…somewhere else."

Makoto sniffed in annoyance and headed off towards some store that sold cute clothes.

When the two of them returned, they had with them three random people each. Jasper was wearing a pair of baggy black jeans and a chain belt, and a black muscle shirt. Sora didn't think it was too much different from his usual outfit, which he carried in a shopping bag. And Makoto had chosen a frilly pink dress.

Jasper nodded. "OK. Let's get started so I can hurry up and win. You people. Am I a man?"

The three random pedestrians blinked. One of them smiled.

"Aw, such a cute little emo boy!" she squealed.

"Yeah, he's so cute!" another one gushed.

"He may be a boy but he's awfully adorable," the last one agreed.

Jasper blushed and narrowed his eyes. "…I can kill you."

The three people fell completely silent. Jasper smiled approvingly and looked at Makoto.

"See? Even if they did call me cute, they also acknowledged that I'm a boy. Your turn."

Makoto grinned and turned to her group of people. "Well?" she pressed. "Aren't I a cute girl?"

The pedestrians just stared at her blankly.

Jasper frowned. "Hang on," he ordered. "Something is wrong." He walked over to Makoto, turned the taller girl towards him, and then reached for a small, barely-visible fish fin poking out of the neckline of the dress. He pulled on the object and revealed a fish head. Then he raised an eyebrow at Makoto, who blushed.

"W-what are you doing, you perverted little creep?!" Makoto yelled. "W-why are you reaching down my shirt?"

"I didn't do anything!" Jasper insisted. "There was a fin sticking out of your shirt!"

"I felt your fingers on my breast…"

"No you didn't."

"Jerk!"

"Idiot!"

Makoto's three people stared. Then one of them nodded slowly.

"I think it's a cross-dresser."

"Yeah, that would explain why it needed fish heads to stuff its shirt."

"Why is it wearing a bra if it's a man?"

Makoto cried out in annoyance and pulled her now-drooping neckline up to cover herself, blushing madly. Jasper burst out laughing. Sora chuckled. Even Yukiho was giggling. The three people smiled, happy with their comments, then they hooked up with the other three people and walked away.

Makoto crumpled to the ground. "…so that's that, eh?" she muttered sadly. "I even wore this cute dress and everything. I blame Jasper."

"I didn't do anything," Jasper sighed, examining the fish head he still held in his hands. "Heh…its eyeballs are still there. That's funny."

"If it helps any, Makoto-chan…I know you're a girl," Yukiho said brightly.

Makoto smiled slightly. "Thanks, Yukiho. But it'd help if other people could tell too."

"Well, as much fun as this is, Jasper and I actually have rehearsal somewhere now so we have to go," Sora informed them. "Bye, Ohime-chan. Bye, Makoto. Sorry about that."

"No you're not. And Yukiho and I have to go do something with Miki and Takane now anyways. Bye, Sora. Bye you jerk."

"Later, you idiot. And you little…little thing."

Yukiho squeaked to Jasper. "Bye, Sora-kun…"

And then the four of them parted. Makoto pulled the other fish head out of her dress and dropped it on the ground, holding the now-too-big neckline in place. Yukiho stuck close to her side and offered some compliments, which Makoto barely accepted. And Sora advised Jasper to stop being mean, which Jasper ignored.


	10. Chapter 10

_ …in which the trio goes on a walk and Makoto proves her manliness._

"But how many times have I said it now? Six? And the girl is like, 'but I love you!', so I told her again that I'm a girl, and I told her to go away, in nicer terms of course, but she wouldn't listen. So by now I'm getting annoyed…" Makoto trailed off. "Um…I'm not annoying you guys, am I?"

"No," Yukiho insisted.

"Yes," Sora muttered.

Makoto frowned at him. "Long story short, she never did go away and she took my shirt and tried to rape me in the middle of an alleyway so I called the police. And that is my worst encounter with Grace yet."

Yukiho giggled. "Grace-san is very kind, actually. So is Jo-san," she said.

"Jo is kind? Maybe when she's not being stupid," Sora remarked. "Oh well. Hey, where are we going again?"

"To that crime scene. I want to see the bloody mess," Makoto answered.

"…you're serious?"

"No, blood is gross. But we are going to the crime scene because my dad is making me go as punishment, and I'm too scared to go alone so I brought you guys."

Sora nodded. "He's still mad?"

"He's _always _mad. Especially at me. I don't know why."

Yukiho shrugged. "Your dad is nice to me, Makoto-chan…" she pointed out.

"That's because he likes you," Makoto moaned. "He's glad that I found a girl to become best friends with because he thinks it'll encourage romantic feelings or whatever. I don't understand my father. Because at the same time he hates you since he thinks you're going to encourage me to become more girly. Not that I need any encouragement."

They paused. The trio was now standing outside of a crowd of people surrounding an alleyway where someone was apparently murdered that morning. Makoto swallowed hard and attempted to get through.

"Excuse me…"

"Are you tough enough to view this crime scene?!" a particularly burly man demanded.

Makoto squeaked and hid behind Yukiho, who hid behind Sora, who stood there looking awkward.

"Yes," he replied. "Well…I am. I don't know about these two. Well, actually, that's a lie. That brunette little…little thing? She's not. I don't know about the other thing."

Makoto cleared her throat and stepped out from behind Yukiho, straightening her shirt. "Of course I'm tough enough," she huffed, deepening her voice on purpose. "What, you couldn't tell by looking at me?"

The man was joined by another muscular guy, who looked Makoto up and down. "You're a girl…in pink," he announced.

"You could tell I was a girl? Aw, that's so sweet," Makoto replied, giggling. "I-I mean…" She paused to deepen her voice again. "…pink is for real men! Don't you know that?!"

The first man glared evenly at her. "I have a question only really manly men will be able to answer," he said.

"Bring it on!" Makoto laughed.

"…ponies or unicorns?" The man smiled.

Makoto blinked. "…seriously?"

"Ponies!" the second man yelped.

"UNICORNS FOR THE WIN! AARGH!"

With a shout, the first man leapt upon the second and started attacking him. The two wrestled for a long time.

Yukiho squeaked. Sora shook his head.

Makoto gave a hearty laugh. "Don't worry guys, I got this," she insisted to the other two. Sora just nodded, while Yukiho gave her a thumbs-up and squeaked. Makoto frowned at the two fighting men. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Break it up, guys!"

The two men stopped fighting for a moment and glared at her.

"…besides, _everyone _knows that pegasi are like…20% cooler," Makoto scoffed.

The men stared at her. Then one of them dragged her into the fight and the three of them continued tussling.

"BRING IT!"

"I'm gonna kill you with my super pony toughness!"

"My unicorn strength will CRUSH YOU!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "You have got to be kidding me," he sighed.

"G-go Makoto-chan…!" Yukiho cheered weakly. "Yay…!"

Sora watched them until Makoto decided she'd had enough and just employed martial arts skills to beat them up, which backfired slightly considering the men were extremely tough and weren't very hindered by her attacks, but Makoto wouldn't give up and so eventually the men just played dead and Makoto let out a celebratory cry.

"Did you see that? I just beat up two tough dudes!" she squealed. "Daddy will be proud! I have defended the pegasi!"

"You do know they just pretended to lose to make you feel good about yourself, right?"

"…what?" Makoto had a saddened expression on her face.

"Whatever," Sora sighed. "Let's just finish up here so I can go home."

And then they pushed through the crowds, took one look at the crime scene, then realized that the body was really gross and Makoto and Yukiho ran of screaming, and Sora followed them, looking disgusted.

"Hey, Sora?" Makoto muttered.

Sora sighed. "What?"

"I think those guys stole my wallet," Makoto whined.

"You didn't have a wallet," Sora reminded her.

"…oh yeah."


	11. Chapter 11

_…in which everything gets extremely dramatic and Kenchi's perverted side is further _

_ revealed_

_**(WARNING!: The following three chapters will be dramatic. If there is any humor at all, it will be light and lacking. This chapter in particular should probably be rated T, but I wasn't about to rate the whole book for this one chapter. There will be perviness and dark sides. You have been warned. I would tell you to skip this if you aren't into drama, but you would miss a maaaaajor plot point (what plot?). So...yeah. Bye.)**_

It was early afternoon. Makoto had awoken that morning to at least thirteen texts from Kenchi (how the boy got her number, she had no idea, but it was likely his sister Kyoko had something to do with it) asking her if she would be available to do something that day. Upon finding out that Kenchi didn't actually have anything in mind, Makoto suggested a visit to his house, which was quickly turned down due to Kyoko's teasing and the fact that Kyou was a pervert.

In the end, the two had settled on a tour of 331 Pro. Since no one was there except the president, known simply as Prez, Kenchi and Makoto were currently completely alone.

"So, why exactly did we come here again?" Makoto asked.

Kenchi shrugged. "I don't know. You suggested it."

"I did? Oh yeah. I don't know why I did that."

"I would say we could just go to a restaurant. But…" Kenchi paused. "To be honest, I'd rather just be alone with you."

Makoto blushed. "I'm not entirely sure how to react to that," she admitted.

Kenchi blushed too. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it…"

"It's OK," Makoto said quickly. "Um…I'm glad to see you again."

"You too," Kenchi replied. "I mean, me too. Or, no…wait, maybe I was right the first time…what I mean is, I'm glad to see you also, as in, you are glad to see me and I am glad to see you. And…wait, what were we talking about?"

Makoto laughed. "Cute."

"…I'm serious," Kenchi whined. "I confused myself."

"You confused me too, so…"

"Sorry…"

Makoto shrugged. "It's alright," she insisted. "By the way, I still haven't entirely gotten over the fact that you saw me in my underwear last week."

Kenchi blushed deeper. "R-right…sorry about that," he muttered. "Um…if it helps, you looked very sexy."

Makoto blushed. "Really?" she piped. "Thanks, I don't think any boy has ever called me sexy to my face before. In fact, no boy has ever called me sexy period before. In case you haven't noticed…" She trailed off. "Never mind."

"I don't mind that you're flat-chested," Kenchi said suddenly. "In fact, I think it's cute."

Makoto hit him on the arm. "Don't talk about that," she warned.

Kenchi rubbed his arm. "Ow, you hit hard…"

"Sorry…"

The two of them paused by an empty room. Kenchi glanced inside.

"Usually this is the lessons room," he announced. "But there's no one here today."

"It's bigger than ours," Makoto commented. "A lot bigger. Your whole agency is bigger than ours, actually…"

Kenchi giggled. "Want to go inside?"

Makoto shrugged. "I guess."

Together the two entered the room. Kenchi closed the door behind them and took a seat on the floor. Makoto sat on top of him. Kenchi giggled.

"You sure are cute," he sighed.

Makoto blushed. "I figured you would be more comfortable than the ground, that's all," she muttered.

Kenchi wrapped his arms around the girl gently. "Makoto-chan, you're soft."

Makoto whacked his arm. "Shut up, you perv!"

"Th-that's not what I meant! I just mean you're wearing soft clothes!"

"D-don't say such confusing things!"

"I'm sorry!"

Makoto sighed and leaned against him. "Just…don't do anything weird, alright?"

Kenchi sighed back. "I know…"

They sat in silence for a while. Slowly, Kenchi started fiddling with some aspect of Makoto's button-up shirt. She blinked.

"What are you doing?"

Kenchi's hands froze. "Nothing," he insisted casually. He started fiddling with Makoto's shirt again.

Makoto muttered something and fell silent. It wasn't until a few moments later that she realized Kenchi had completely unbuttoned her shirt. She blushed and pulled it back closed.

"Why did you just unbutton my shirt?!" she snapped. "I-I told you not to do anything weird!"

"Relax," Kenchi laughed somewhat darkly. "We're alone. No one is stopping us from doing whatever we want." Slowly, he moved his hands towards Makoto's chest. She blocked him.

"_I'm _stopping you," she corrected. "Now cut it out." Makoto tried to stand, but Kenchi tightened his hold on her and pulled her back on top of him, instantly moving his hands onto her breasts. Makoto blushed harder and tried to pull his hands off. He squeezed. She slammed her fist into his chest.

Kenchi frowned. "Um, ow."

"Let go of me, you pervert!"

"It's fine. You're overreacting."

"I am not! Get your hands off my breasts!"

Kenchi shrugged and fondled her breasts playfully. "C'mon, just relax and let me have a little fun, 'kay?"

Makoto slapped his face. "Let go," she ordered, struggling in vain against her captor's hold. "Y-you're as bad as that brother you were telling me about!"

Kenchi's playful smirk vanished. "Oh, no, you're way off," he murmured. "Kyou is like this with every woman he comes across. For me, it's just me and you. You don't have to worry."

"I do too have to worry," Makoto spat, trying again to punch the boy off of her. Kenchi just pulled her in closer. "G-get off of me…!" _He's changed. Somehow, he's changed. I'm scared…I'm scared…!_

Kenchi sighed and moved his hands back to her waist. "You're so cold, Makoto-chan," he complained. "I'm just having a little fun." Slowly, he tried to move his hands to her butt. Makoto stomped on his foot.

"Stop that," she demanded, trying again to stand. This time, when Kenchi pulled her back down, he turned her over so that her face was almost on top of his. She blushed and slapped him.

"Ow," Kenchi whined. "Stop doing that."

"I'll stop when you stop."

"…I'd rather not."

"P-pervert!"

Suddenly, Kenchi lurched forwards and pressed his lips to hers. Makoto struggled and tried to punch him in the face, but Kenchi caught her hand and pulled her even closer. He moved his free hand down to her butt and squeezed gently. Makoto kneed him between the legs. He released her.

"Ow! M-Makoto-chan, that hurt!" Kenchi yelped.

"Good!" Makoto snapped. _He's still holding onto me. I still can't get away. There has to be someone else here…! _"H-help! Someone, help me!"

Kenchi shushed her by pulling her into another kiss. Makoto continued to slam her fist into any part of his body that she could reach, but it was helpless.

The darker side of Kenchi seemed unstoppable. Tears welled in Makoto's eyes, and Kenchi moved his lips to her neck.

Sora swung Yukiho's hand lightly. "So you see, that's the Prez's office right over there. She should be inside," he explained.

Yukiho blushed. "Y-yes, that makes sense," she remarked. "Thank you for taking me on a tour, Sora-kun. I-I had wanted to see your agency…"

"Really?" Sora sounded surprised. "I just suggested it because I could. No one else is here today so it seemed like a good day." He paused.

"Want to go see the lessons room?"

"You're some kind of monster!" Makoto decided. Kenchi slipped his hand under her bra and squeezed. Makoto slapped him.

"You could say that." A sigh slipped past Kenchi's lips. He smirked. It was obvious he was having a lot of fun playing with his love interest's body. Makoto tried kneeing him again. He flinched.

"Just leave me alone," Makoto begged. The tears forming in her eyes threatened to break loose, but she forced herself not to cry. Crying would seem weak, and if there was anything Makoto didn't want to do right now, it was seem weak. She decided to try calling for help again, just as Kenchi decided to move both hands to her butt.

"S-someone please help me…!"

Sora blinked. "Did you hear something, Ohime-chan?"

Yukiho blinked back. "Um…it kind of sounded like Makoto-chan," she commented. "I-I thought you said no one was here today…"

"That's what I thought," Sora said slowly. He frowned. "Something is off. Come on, let's go investigate."

It didn't take long to find the source of the cry; Yukiho and Sora soon heard the voice cry out again, and the next time they heard it it was purely a scream. The pair traced the sound to the lessons room they had been planning to see anyways. Yukiho went to open the door, but Sora stopped her. He held a finger to his lips as a signal to keep quiet. Yukiho looked confused and a little frightened, but she nodded and stepped back. Sora pressed his ear to the door.

"Why are you doing this?" he heard Makoto's voice sob.

"Isn't it obvious?" That was Kenchi's voice.

_But,_ Sora noted, _he sounds…a little different…_

"It's because I love you," Kenchi's voice finished.

"So, you have to suck on my neck and touch my body to prove that?!" Makoto's voice lashed.

Yukiho gasped in alarm and turned to Sora, a look of fear in her eyes. Sora's frown deepened.

_ What is that kid doing?_

Kenchi laughed darkly. "Don't worry. This is the kinds of things married couples do, anyways."

"Exactly!" Makoto cried. "We're not married! N-now get your hands off me!"

Sora's hand clutched the doorknob. _I have to figure out what's going on…_

"K-Kenchi…? W-wait a second…stop it! You don't just…take people's clothes! K-Kenchi…!"

Sora flung the door open, Yukiho cowering behind him. Makoto's head whirled to face him, her eyes shining with tears. A wide, relieved smile broke across her face.

"Sora! Sora, you have to—uwah, d-don't touch that, you pervert…! S-Sora…!"

"What are you doing to her?!" Sora demanded, addressing Kenchi. Kenchi lifted his face from Makoto's chest and gazed at Sora with indifferent eyes.

"What does it matter to you?" he replied evenly. "We're busy. Go away."

"I will not!" Sora snapped, running to the pair. With Makoto's help (meaning bashing away at Kenchi's face and kneeing him a third time), he managed to pry Kenchi's arms off of the terrified and half-naked girl, sending both of them crashing to the floor. Makoto immediately scrambled to her feet and re-dressed herself as needed. Yukiho ran to her best friend and caught the shaking girl in her arms while Sora turned his angry gaze on Kenchi, who returned it.

"Why'd you do that?" Kenchi muttered. "I was having fun."

"Yeah, by touching her," Sora spat. "People like you really disgust me, you know that?!"

Kenchi waved his hand and leaned lazily against the wall. "I don't expect you to understand, Sora-kun," he sighed.

"You're not usually like this," Sora observed. "I know you, Kenchi. You're a good kid. So what happened?"

"Sometimes, one's feelings can get in the way of one's judgment," Kenchi said smoothly. He rose to his feet. "Well, there's no need for me to stick around here. See you later, Sora-kun. …Makoto-chan."

"Apologize before you go!" Sora ordered.

Kenchi put a hand on his hip and shifted his gaze to Sora. "No."

"You owe it to her! Look, she's shaking."

"Why would you care? You don't even care about Makoto-chan."

"I do too," Sora insisted. "I at least care enough to demand an apology from you. No girl deserves to be treated that way! No matter how much of a freak they are!"

Makoto looked over at him from her pace trembling in Yukiho's embrace. "Sora," she breathed.

Sora smiled. "Don't worry, Makoto. I've got your back."

Makoto smiled past the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Thank you…"

Kenchi just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm going home," he mumbled. Before Sora could object any more, the boy had vanished into the hallways. Sora sighed and shook his head, turning to go to the two girls.

"Are you two OK?" he asked soothingly, placing a hand on Makoto's shoulder. Makoto immediately detached herself from Yukiho and flung her arms around Sora instead, sobbing loudly into his chest. Sora frowned and tried to shove her off, but he was unsuccessful. He looked up at Yukiho. "Could you go get her some tea or something?" he pleaded.

Yukiho nodded and gave her best friend a quick half-hug. "I'll be right back…" Quickly, she shuffled out the door.

"The kitchen is four doors to the left right after you exit," Sora called after her. After another unsuccessful attempt to pry Makoto off of him, he gave up and just starting rubbing her back gently.

"I'm scared," Makoto admitted after another minute. "Sora…!"

"Don't worry," Sora murmured. "You're safe now."

"What took you so long?!"

"We weren't even here until about three minutes ago!"

Makoto sniffed loudly and pulled away from Sora. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "You're not used to seeing me like this, are you?"

"I'm used to seeing you as a freak." Sora shrugged. "So you're fine."

Makoto hit him. "You're a jerk!" she whined.

"Sorry," Sora laughed. "Hey…hey, Makoto?"

"…yeah?"

"You know, I won't let him touch you again, OK? As long as you're with me—and Yukiho, especially Yukiho—something like that won't ever happen again. Understand?"

Makoto smiled gratefully. "You're amazing," she breathed. "Thank you so much."

"It's nothing, really," Sora insisted. "Are you OK?"

"Better," Makoto admitted, wiping her eyes. "Seriously though, I feel like I haven't thanked you enough. I was terrified."

"I would've thought you'd be able to get out of something like that."

"So did I, but his grip was like a vice. I could barely move."

"It seemed like you were in a lot of trouble."

"I was." Makoto paused. "Sora…"

"You really don't have to thank me," Sora said quickly.

Makoto just stared at him. Then, suddenly, she leaned forwards and pressed her lips to his.

Sora's eyes widened and he tried to shove away from Makoto, but the shorter girl had an arm on the back of his head and was holding him against her. For a moment, Sora realized that the kiss didn't seem romantic; rather, it was more like what one would call a friendly kiss. But he didn't have much time to dwell on the thought, because then, there was a crashing sound. Makoto pulled away from Sora immediately and looked in the direction of the sound.

There was Yukiho, standing, wide-eyed, at the entrance to the room, her hands folded over her mouth. The tray which had previously held the tea for Makoto had crashed to the floor. Sora could see tears pooling in her eyes. He took a step towards her.

"Ohime-chan…!"

Yukiho took off running. Sora started after her.

"Ohime-chan!"

"Let me," Makoto begged, putting a hand on his shoulder. "This is my fault. I'm sorry…"

Sora stared down at Makoto and his eyes softened. "You've been through a lot today. Let me handle this."

"Forget it!" Makoto yelled, immediately taking off after her best friend.

Sora lurched towards her, but then he realized that this was something he should stay out of for now and allowed Makoto to chase Yukiho down. He frowned.

"Makoto…what have you done?"

"Yukiho!"

Yukiho ignored the cry and instead fled into a small closet. She sat down on a crate and started to cry. _Why, Makoto-chan…? Why? You know how I feel…don't you?_

There was a light knock on the closed door to the closet. "Yukiho…are you in here?"

"Go away!" Yukiho squeaked. She was in no mood to talk to her traitorous best friend.

Makoto opened the door anyway. "Yukiho…"

"I don't want to talk to you!" Yukiho sobbed. "Why? Why did you do this?"

Makoto entered the closet and sat down on a crate opposite Yukiho (why there were crates in said closet, the world will never know). "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to thank him…"

"Don't you know how I feel?" Yukiho whispered. "M-Makoto-chan! F-for the first time in my life, I'm starting to warm up to a m-man! I really care about Sora-kun, and I think I might actually like him! So…w-why are you kissing him?"

Makoto looked saddened. She reached for Yukiho's hand. "Yukiho, I'm sorry…"

"Don't touch me!" Yukiho ordered, the tears spilling from her eyes. "You…y-you traitor!"

"I didn't mean it!" Makoto promised. "I'll never do it again, I swear! I know you love Sora and-"

"This whole time," Yukiho murmured. "…this whole time, y-you've been…against us! You were always trying to ruin our time together by spying on us, a-and now…now you're kissing him? I can't believe you would do this!"

Makoto stood and took a step closer. "…Yukiho, you know I'd never hurt you on purpose. I love you…"

"Well, I don't believe you!" Yukiho cried. "I-I can't trust you…I don't trust you! I _won't _trust you, ever again, Makoto-chan!"

"Yukiho…!"

"_I hate you!_"

As soon as the words left Yukiho's mouth, Makoto's jaw dropped. She could do nothing but stare at Yukiho in disbelief, wondering if the words she'd heard were real. Yukiho returned her stare angrily; then, the crying girl gave her "best friend" a weak shove and turned to run out the door.

"I don't ever want to see you again!" she wailed over her shoulder.

Makoto was completely still. She dropped back onto the crate, absolutely shocked.

_What just happened?_

She looked down the hallway, watching Yukiho return to the lesson room. She watched silently as Sora caught the fragile brunette in his arms. The two exchanged a few words, then Sora led her inside.

_Yukiho…what have I done?_


	12. Chapter 12

_…in which the drama continues and Yukiho talks to Sora._

The trees were green, the leaves were bright, the sun was warm. All-in-all, if one were to examine the weather only, this would be the perfect summer. But to the currently-two members of the famous "trio", something valuable was missing.

Sora honestly thought that the past two months without Makoto had been bearable. He already hadn't been the girl's biggest fan, and the fact that she'd dared to kiss him had made it worse. But he wasn't so much of a jerk that he refused to admit that they needed the boyish girl in their little circle.

Life alone with Yukiho had been educational, at the least; Sora had been informed that the frail brunette had feelings for him just as he had feelings for her. But since dropping their third member, mostly due to Yukiho's suggestion, she had seemed much more solemn.

Today, the pair was taking a walk in the park, just as Makoto and Yukiho had been doing when Sora had first met them. Except that this time, Yukiho's "best friend" had been replaced with her "boyfriend". Yukiho's phone trilled. She took it out and looked at the caller ID. Sora peered over her shoulder.

"It's Makoto," he noted.

Yukiho nodded absently. "Yes, I know." She put the phone back in her pocket as it continued to trill. "She's been calling me quite a bit lately."

"Aren't you going to answer?" Sora asked. "I don't mind."

Yukiho shook her head. "I don't want to talk to her."

Sora frowned. _I know that's a lie,_ he wanted to say. _I know you too well to think you don't miss her._

"Ohime-chan…are you OK?" he questioned instead.

Yukiho was silent. She clutched Sora's hand a bit tighter. "…d-did you enjoy it?"

"What?"

"When…when Kikuchi-san kissed you." Sora frowned deeper at the sound of Yukiho referring to Makoto as "Kikuchi-san". "Did you…e-enjoy it?"

"Ew, of course not," Sora spat, sounding disgusted. "…but you know what, as much of a freak as that thing is, she was hurting at that moment and, I'm not saying I forgive her, but in the end she was just acting on impulse. She didn't kiss me because she wanted to."

"So you have f-feelings for her…?"

"That's gross. Of course I don't have 'feelings' for her. But I do care enough to be there if she's really hurting like that. You saw what that kid was doing to her."

Yukiho stopped walking.

"Don't you?" Sora continued. "Ohime-chan…what happened?"

"She doesn't care about me," Yukiho mumbled.

"What?"

"She doesn't care about me!" Yukiho cried, turning on Sora. "If she cared...i-if she really cared, she wouldn't have been trying to ruin our relationship like that…! She would have been w-willing to put my feelings ahead of her own, but…she was always spying on us, stopping us from having a good time, and now this…"

"…do you remember the time she interrupted what would have been our first kiss?" Sora asked solemnly.

Yukiho nodded slowly. "Of course I do."

"Do you remember how terrified you were?" Sora pressed.

Yukiho winced. "Yes, I do."

"Don't you think she was just trying to protect you? She may be stupid, and annoying, and a freak, and stupid, and did I mention she's annoying? I don't like her very much."

Yukiho giggled.

"But," Sora continued, "but, if there's one thing Makoto isn't, it's a bad friend. All this time she just wanted to protect you. Trust me."

Yukiho sat down on the ground. Sora sat beside her. "But she still kissed you," Yukiho sighed. "Sora-kun, I just don't think I can trust her anymore…"

"Trust me, she was just acting in the moment. She probably didn't even realize what she was doing. I'm not saying I'm not mad about it, or that it wasn't gross, or that I didn't feel like stabbing her to death with a knife afterwards, but I'm telling you it wasn't romantic. Makoto loves you, Ohime-chan. I know she does. I've seen it," Sora concluded.

Yukiho let her mind wander to the night a few months ago when she'd spent the night at Makoto's house.

_"You know, Sora is really sweet. I like him," _Makoto had sighed.

_ "Yes…I like him too," _had been Yukiho's response._ "He isn't the way I always imagined men like him to be."_

_ "You're lucky. If I ever find a man half as good as Sora, I'll be happy. I think he's going to take good care of you."_

_ "Thank you. So do I."_

_ "Just...just promise me you won't let him replace me. Please?"_

_ "Of course he won't replace you, Makoto-chan."_

_ "Thanks, Yukiho. …Yukiho…I love you. Like, my best friend in the world kind of love."_

Yukiho's heart sank, remembering her words. She had promised—_promised—_that she wouldn't let Sora take her best friend's place. And yet that was exactly what she'd done. Tears formed in her eyes.

_Makoto-chan…come back…! I miss you!_

Sora put his arm over her shoulders. "You miss her, don't you?" he murmured. Yukiho hugged him gently and started to cry. Sora rubbed her back. "You know, you girls sure do love crying on me…"

Yukiho chuckled slightly.

"…hey, Ohime-chan? You know, I'm sure you could find her at her house and talk to her," Sora told her. "I'm serious. We could go right now—"

"She won't listen to me," Yukiho cut in, sniffling loudly. "Sora-kun! A-after everything I've said and done…she won't listen to me!"

"Sure she will," Sora soothed.

Yukiho looked up at him past the tears in her eyes. "Sora-kun, she would listen to you, I think…"

Sora blinked. Then he shook his head. "No, oh, no. Definitely not. I don't want her eating my face off if we're left alone."

"Please, Sora-kun!"

"Just go talk to her!"

"S-Sora-kun…!"

"I won't do it."

"Do it for me!" Yukiho squeaked. "Please…p-please! Just do it for me! I need you, Sora-kun!"

Sora's eyes softened. The two stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Sora sighed.

"OK, fine, you win. But only because you are the most perfect thing alive and I can't refuse a thing you say, even if it involves an idiot."

Yukiho beamed and planted a somewhat-tentative kiss on Sora's cheek. "Thank you, Sora-kun," she whispered happily. "Thank you."

Sora nodded slowly. "…I am so dead."


	13. Chapter 13

_ …in which the drama comes to an end and Sora talks to Makoto._

Sora sighed. _Here goes nothing._

He had been assigned the special task of retrieving Yukiho's former best friend to restore her to her former "glory" alongside her former companion. But Sora knew just as well as anyone that it should have been Yukiho herself going to fetch Makoto, not Sora. Nonetheless, there he was outside her door, about to knock.

He rang the doorbell instead of knocking.

Makoto's father opened the door. Sora instantly cursed his bad luck. He had been hoping that Makoto herself would open the door so he could just say a few words and be done.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Makoto's father spat.

Sora gulped. "Um…well, you see, sir…I am here to talk to your daughter. It is very important," he explained carefully.

Makoto's father raised an eyebrow. "What do you want with my daughter?"

"Just a talk, sir."

"What kind of talk?"

"The kind of talk…where we talk."

"About…?"

"…Friendship. Because friendship is magic."

"…get out of my house, kid."

"…no, seriously. I want to talk to your daughter about friendship," Sora said slowly. "Not our friendship. We don't even have a friendship. I don't even like her. A different friendship."

"I said, get out of my house!" Makoto's father shouted, glaring furiously at the boy.

"I'm not even in your house!"

"She's not seeing anyone!" Makoto's father snapped. "That girl has been locked up in her room for weeks now! She won't eat, I'm almost positive she's not sleeping, and she won't talk to anyone about why, not even her own parents. So if you think a kid like you can truly understand what's going on, then go right ahead. But I'm telling you she won't talk to you."

Sora felt rather saddened at the news. He had known that Makoto would probably be suffering emotionally for a while, but he hadn't expected things to get so far.

_Of course, _he suddenly realized. _She was being harassed by that kid, and immediately after she lost her best friend, and I'm sure her parents didn't even care. Did she even tell them? They probably don't even know because she was scared they would punish her if she told them. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm almost positive that's borderline child abuse…_

"I can help her," Sora promised. _At the very least, I can try. _"Please let me in."

Makoto's father glared down at Sora for a while longer; then he finally relented and let the boy in. Sora bowed gratefully to the man and headed upstairs, trying to remember where Makoto's room was. He managed to find it after trying a couple of other doors. He took a deep breath and knocked.

There was no answer. He knocked again.

Still no answer.

"Makoto?" he called.

A sniffle. No words.

"Makoto, are you in there? It's Sora."

A rustling noise, a couple more sniffles…then silence.

"Makoto, come on. Open the door."

"Go away." Makoto's voice sounded choked with tears.

_She's still this upset? Wow, it must have really been bad…_ "Makoto, please let me in," Sora begged. "You can't just sit in there forever."

"Why do you care?" Makoto muttered.

"…because I know you're hurting. And even though I don't like you, I still care enough to be there for you when you're hurting this badly. Remember that?"

There was silence. Another rustling noise, and then the door slid open slowly. Briefly, Sora wished it hadn't.

Makoto was a mess, there was no mistaking it. Sora remembered her eyes to be full of life, a smile almost always on her face, a bounce in her step. Now, her eyes were lifeless, her face blank, and her body drooping. Sora could see used tissues scattered all over the floor, a few dirty clothes, and the occasional wrapper. He looked back at Makoto's face, noting the mess of hair on her head. He also noted that it was considerably shorter.

"What happened to you?" he asked at last.

Makoto looked up at her hair briefly. "Oh, this? I told my dad about what happened with Kenchi and he made me cut it as punishment for not being able to fight him off. I'm just lucky I have any hair left at all at this point."

"So you did tell them," Sora said slowly. "Your parents. Do they know about Yukiho?"

Makoto flinched. "No," she muttered. "…what do you want, anyway?"

"Yukiho misses you," Sora said sincerely. Makoto snorted and headed back inside her room to sit on the floor. "I'm serious! She told me so herself."

"Then why hasn't she told _me_ herself yet?" Makoto lashed. "Oh, I forgot. Because _she hates me_ now." Her words were laced with distress. Sora, feeling sympathetic, sat beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She doesn't hate you. She was mad. _I _was mad. I still am kinda mad, to be honest. But—"

"I didn't mean to kiss you, OK?!" Makoto cried. "I'm sorry it ever happened, I'm sorry we ever met, and I'm sorry I'm such a freak. You want to just kill me and get it over with? At this point, I'd almost _thank _you for it!"

Sora's eyes hardened and he slapped her. Makoto's own eyes widened. She touched her face gently.

"You…"

"Stop that!" Sora ordered, rising to his feet. "What, you get into one little fight with Ohime-chan and suddenly life isn't worth living?! What's wrong with you?!"

"It wasn't 'one little fight', Sora!" Makoto retaliated, rising to her feet as well. Now, at least, her eyes displayed a world of fury instead of nothing at all. "What do you know about my relationship with Yukiho? What do you _care_? You hate me, just admit it! You hate me, she hates me, for crying out loud, I'm pretty sure my own parents hate me! Could you show me the good in that? Because I would really love to see it."

"I'm not telling you fighting with Yukiho is a good thing," Sora replied evenly. "I understand that you're hurt. I really do."

"No you don't!" Makoto yelled. "You don't understand at all! I love that girl, OK? More than you love her! So stop pretending you know anything and just leave me alone!"

Sora's heart sank. At this point, he was fighting with his desire to just listen to the girl and go home, but his more compassionate side was begging him to help her before she was too far gone. "Makoto…"

"I said leave me alone," Makoto snapped, returning to her sitting position.

Sora knelt in front of her. "I do too understand. When I was 15, I lost a best friend to a car crash. And you want to know what? We didn't get to say goodbye or anything. We didn't get to decide we wanted to see each other again and just go make up after a fight. Because he _died_."

Makoto fell silent. "I'm sorry," she whispered after a moment. "I can't even imagine Yukiho dying. This is hard enough already."

"Then go back to her, Makoto," Sora demanded. "She misses you."

Makoto looked up at him, a hint of a cheeky twinkle in her eye. "Do you miss me?"

Sora smiled and chuckled slightly. "If I say 'maybe', will you clean up this mess and get on with your life?"

"That depends. Do you mean it?"

"I suppose."

Makoto smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Sora. I really needed this. But I'm not ready to face her yet. I'm not ready to face that anger again. So please just tell her to call me or something—"

"I won't do that," Sora broke in. "I'm not leaving without you." He paused. "And stop hugging me. It's weird."

Makoto pulled away, her lips pursed in annoyance. "You're so mean, Sora," she pouted. "…alright. I might decide to go back. But it still hurts a lot. Everything still hurts…"

"That'll change if you go see her. I promise you."

Makoto nodded slowly. The two of them sat together in silence for a while. And then, finally, Makoto stood and started discarding the waste in her room. Sora watched her in silence until she'd finished cleaning. He heard her stomach growl. She clutched at it momentarily and glanced at Sora.

"Hey, Sora, I'm gonna go get something to eat and take a shower, because I haven't done either of those things in a really long time and I feel gross. So…yeah," Makoto informed him.

Sora shrugged. "I guess I'll get something to eat too."

Makoto yawned. "And then I'm going to take a nap because I haven't done that in a while either. Do you think you and Yukiho could wait at the park for me? I'll run down there when I finish, OK?"

Sora allowed himself to smile. "Alright." He stood and started on his way downstairs. Makoto followed him.

"Oh yeah, and Sora?"

Sora turned. "Yeah?"

"Thank you. I think you and Yukiho are going to be really good for each other."

"…thank you, Makoto. And you're welcome."

Yukiho fiddled with the grass by her feet. "A-are you sure she's coming?"

"Positive," Sora assured her. "Remember, she hadn't eaten or slept—or showered, which is really disgusting—in weeks. We've got to give her some time."

"I really hurt her," Yukiho sniffed. "I-I'm the worst friend ever…!"

"She understands. It's OK," Sora soothed.

Yukiho smiled. "I knew you could do it," she said fondly.

"Thanks. I didn't. I don't like her so I thought I'd end up killing her. But she's really pretty bearable after all. I think I might be able to learn how to deal with her, but a super-legit friendship is never gonna happen."

Yukiho giggled. The pair waited a little longer, then Sora heard a familiar voice.

"Hey! Hey, Sora! Yukiho! Nice to see you two!"

Yukiho looked in the direction of Makoto's voice immediately. Upon spotting her, Yukiho leapt to her feet with a joyous cry and ran to meet her. Makoto caught the girl in a hug and spun her around a couple times, holding her close in an embrace. Yukiho squeezed her friend as close as she could and sobbed loudly into her shoulder. Sora, watching on in silence, smiled.

"Makoto-chan! Makoto-chan, I missed you so much!" Yukiho wailed.

"Not as much as I missed you!" Makoto sobbed back. "I kept calling you and texting you and calling you and going to your house and stalking you and calling you, and you never acknowledged me!"

"I'm so sorry! I-I never should have doubted you!"

"I forgive you, you gorgeous child! I'm sorry too!"

"I forgive you, y-you wonderful person!"

Sora chuckled to himself. The two reunited friends exchanged a few more apologies and hugs (and a kiss on the cheek) before returning to Sora. Both girls had tears in their eyes and an arm around the other. Sora stood and waited.

"Well?"

"Well…what?" Makoto prompted.

"Well I think you owe me an apology, a thank you, and a hug. At least…Ohime-chan owes me a hug. You just owe me an apology and a thank you."

"Thank you, Sora," Makoto laughed. "I feel a lot better. I'm sorry."

"For…?"

"Everything, to be perfectly honest…"

Yukiho tugged on her sleeve. "Makoto-chan, you cut your hair…"

"Hm?" Makoto tugged on a piece of her now-short-again hair. "Oh, yeah. My dad made me 'cause he's a jerk."

"Oh…"

"…but you know what else?"

Sora and Yukiho waited.

"I weighed myself on a scale today. I lost eight pounds."

"Wow. That's a lot," Yukiho commented.

"Not really," Makoto insisted.

"You lost that much from sitting around doing nothing?" Sora questioned. "…How?"

"I hit stuff when I got bored. And when I say 'hit stuff' I don't mean…hitting your pillow kind of thing. I mean I got a punching bag out of my closet and beat it up until I was sweating or I broke it. Whichever came first. And I didn't eat for weeks."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "You keep punching bags in your closet?"

"Yup. It was my dad's idea." Makoto laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. Yukiho leaned gratefully against her and smiled warmly at Sora.

Sora observed them. _Both of them look really happy. I'm glad everything is OK._

"…you know what else?" Makoto said suddenly.

"Yeah?" Sora asked.

"I really hate the smell of an enclosed room after four weeks of a girl sitting in it doing nothing but crying and hitting stuff."

"…Cool."

"Yeah, I know."

And thus, the trio was once again re-formed. Sora had a feeling things would remain that way for a long time.

But just in case, he promised himself he'd be ready with lots of tissues whenever he did anything with teenaged girls anymore.

He blinked. "Ohime-chan, I never got my hug."

Yukiho squeaked happily and gave him a quick hug. She squeaked again when she retreated. "There you go…!"

"Thanks. You're adorable."

"Hehe…th-thank you!"

"I love you."

"…I love you too…?"

"I love you more!" Makoto yelled.

"I love you too!" Yukiho responded.

"Aw, come on! I got a question mark and ellipses and she got an exclamation point?" Sora pouted. "That's so mean."

Yukiho and Makoto blinked.

"Um…how did you…what?" Yukiho questioned.

Sora blinked. "I don't know."

"…what?"

"Never mind."

Makoto just shrugged. "I think we should go get some ice-cream. …and some hamburgers. Because I'm still really hungry."

"I like ice-cream," Yukiho agreed.

"And Sora is paying," Makoto announced.

Sora frowned. "…Dang."

Makoto giggled. "You owe it to us. We're ladies, after all."

"No, she's a lady. You're a thing."

"And you're a jerk. Now, let's go!"

**(A/N: Well, there you have it. This conflict took more pages to solve than it did to arise, I think, so I'm good. Plus I skipped a whole two-month time period. Anyways...that aside, is it weird that I had more fun writing this chapter and chapter 11 than I did any other chapter of pretty much any book I've ever written? Because I did. I'm going to dedicate this to Jo because I haven't done that yet and Sora is her character andshe helped me out when I was stuck(-ish) so...yeah. Jo, this is for you. And...yeah. Thanks to all of you who have supported this fic thus far! To be honest, I'm a bit at a loss for future chapters, so if you have any ideas let me know through a PM or a review/comment, and...yeah. Thank you~! I love you guys :3)**


	14. Chapter 14

_ …in which the reunited trio gets ice-cream burgers and encounters the other two._

"…hey, you know what else?"

Sora blinked, gripping Yukiho's hand tightly. "Yeah?"

"Once when I was sitting in my room, I got visited by the Futami twins. They brought this video game and they tried to cheer me up by playing with me, but I kept dying," Makoto explained. "They tried to help by setting up a tag-team match, but I soon found out the team was both of them against me and some random person. So I died again in like, three seconds. They didn't even tell me how to play. So I kicked them out of my house."

"That's…nice," Sora muttered. "Look, it's That Burger and Ice-cream Place. Let's go here."

Yukiho smiled brightly. "I've never been here," she announced. "I think it will be fun."

Makoto swung her hand. "Yup. I wanted to come earlier, but I thought it'd be more fun to go with my best friend and the kid I wish was my boyfriend, but is actually my best friend's boyfriend. Except, I don't really wish you were my boyfriend. I think you're way better suited to be Yukiho's boyfriend. But if you had a twin brother…man, I would so marry him on the spot."

Sora just blinked again, having found it hard to follow the onslaught of words tumbling past Makoto's lips. "Um…what?"

"Do you have a twin brother?" Makoto asked, reverting to the short version of her previous collection of statements.

Sora shook his head.

"Dang it. 'Cause if you did he would be my husband."

"Ew, I wouldn't want you for a sister-in-law…"

Yukiho suddenly froze. Makoto glanced at her, while Sora observed the place her eyes were frozen to. He, too, stiffened.

Makoto blinked. There were men at the restaurant for sure. Yukiho had known that and had agreed to go on the condition that Sora and Makoto never left her side. But her eyes were fearful, her posture stiff, and her lip quivering.

"Are you OK?" Makoto asked her best friend gently. She glanced at Sora, looking much the same way, but his eyes were angry and his lips set in a frown. "What's wrong, you guys?"

"Look," Sora hissed, flicking his wrist in the direction of the apparently offensive material.

Makoto did—and she gasped.

Sitting at one of the chairs not far away from them was Nakamura Kentaro. With him were Jasper and two other people none of them recognized, an older-looking boy and a girl. The girl spotted the trio and nudged Kenchi playfully. Kenchi blushed and moved his lips as though he were saying something (although it was impossible to hear what with the distance between them and the noise of the restaurant).

"We can't stay here," Makoto muttered. "I don't trust him. Not one bit."

"Relax," Sora breathed. "We'll just sit over there, OK? Maybe he won't see us."

But Kenchi's female companion still had her dull grey eye on them, and she jostled Kenchi violently and turned him forcefully in their direction. The boy's eyes widened.

"We have to go!" Makoto hissed. "Sora…!"

"I'll protect you," Sora promised. "Both of you. Especially Yukiho, but you too. Now come on…"

It didn't take long for the entire quartet, including Jasper and the unknown boy, to approach them. Jasper sat down on Sora's lap and started drinking from the cup of water he'd acquired.

"Dude, I was drinking that!" Sora complained.

"Dude, I don't care!" Jasper mocked. "I love water."

"Jasper, get off of me…"

"Get out from under me."

Makoto scooted as far against the wall as she could. Yukiho shifted in her seat in the booth and looked to the unknown girl for comfort.

"I told you it was her," the girl rasped. "But you didn't believe me."

"I believed you, Kyoko…" Kenchi muttered. "…but I didn't want to see her."

The unknown boy stared down at the two girls. "Yup, A-cup," he declared after a moment. "I guess around seventy-five? But the other one's pretty nice, like…eighty-one?"

Yukiho squeaked and hid behind Sora (and Jasper, who was still sitting on him) and Makoto gasped and crossed her arms across her chest.

"K-Kyou-nii! I told you to act normal!" Kenchi whined.

"Kyou's stupid!" the girl, presumably named Kyoko, lashed. "He can't act normal. It's impossible."

"No need to be jealous, Kyoko-chan," the older boy laughed. "You have the boyish-looking one beat, at least. And you're just one down from the other one, little Miss Eighty."

Kyoko slapped him. "Sh-shut up! You can't just go about sexually harassing people, you know!"

Kenchi and Makoto winced.

Kyou rubbed his face. "Kyoko-chan, you slap hard."

"Anyone would slap you hard after a comment like _that_, perv."

"Jasper is still drinking my water!" Sora called.

Jasper grinned. "Yup," he agreed, taking another sip of Sora's water.

Kyoko sighed. "OK. Now that that's out of the way, I'm Nakamura Kyoko, Kenchi's twin sister. And that's Nakamura Kyou, our older brother. And you're Sora, which I know because my brother works with you, and you're Makoto, which I know because my brother is obsessed with you, and you're Yukiho, which I know because my brother works with Sora, who is obsessed with you."

All four of the mentioned people squirmed or shifted uncomfortably.

"W-wait…you're obsessed with me?" Yukiho confirmed, addressing Sora. On instinct, she scooted away.

"Yes," Sora stated bluntly. "I mean…no! I meant…I…no."

Yukiho blinked. "…OK." She scooted back over to Sora again.

Jasper rolled off of him and took the water to a different table.

"I was drinking that!" Sora shouted.

"And now I'm drinking it!" Jasper replied.

Sora sighed. "I'm going to get more water." He stood.

Makoto grabbed his sleeve as he passed. "D-don't go!" she begged. Sora gazed down at her, then at Kenchi, then his eyes flicked to his sister Kyoko.

_I'm sure she can be trusted,_ Sora decided. He leaned in towards her ear.

"You know, I caught your brother sexually harassing poor Makoto one day and ever since then, she's been terrified of him. It's been months but she hasn't forgotten."

Kyoko sighed. "Was it Kyou? He does that a lot, but I keep him in check, so—"

"It was Kenchi," Sora cut in.

Kyoko let out an ear-splitting screech and whirled angrily on her twin brother. "Nakamura Kentaro! I do not remember you becoming a pervert! When did this happen?!" she demanded.

"E-eh…?! I-I…th-that was…" Kenchi trailed off, blushing, and cast a glance at Makoto, who shrank into her chair. "Um…"

"I can't believe this!" Kyoko wailed, her low, raspy voice cracking slightly. "I'm the only normal kid left in this family! I knew it, you know what? I knew the Nakamura Family Curse was gonna affect you one day. Not one boy has ever been born in this family that wasn't a pervert. Not one."

"No boy has ever been born in _any_ family that wasn't somewhat of a pervert," Kyou pointed out dryly. "Seriously, I would know. I hang out with other boys all the time."

Kyoko stomped her foot angrily. "You know what, you two can just…this is why the Nakamura family needs more girls to keep the family in check. I swear, if you two don't produce daughters…"

"You're the only girl that's been born into this family for five generations," Kyou sighed. "What are the chances one of us will birth a girl?"

"Well obviously, the estrogen has just been building up in the wombs of the wives of this family until it explodes in a colorful collection of triplet girls!" Kyoko declared proudly.

Sora, Makoto, and Yukiho blinked.

"Yeah…" Sora began. "So, I'm gonna get more water. Kyoko, I trust I can…trust…you to keep them in check."

"You bet," Kyoko hissed, glaring at her brothers. "Stupid boys."

"It's not our fault!" Kyou insisted. "Men are born with a natural desire to see women naked!"

"No they're not!" Kyoko scoffed. "That's such a lie!"

"It's true! All men are born perverts! Just look at Kenchi! I mean, he's a good kid, right? But apparently, when we weren't looking, he went and sexually harassed a flat-chested pop idol!"

Makoto pouted silently in her chair and took a sip of root beer.

There was a pause.

"I'm proud of him," Kyou finished.

Kyoko slapped him again, then turned to address Kenchi. "You!"

Kenchi flinched. "Ah…me?"

"What did you do to her?!" Kyoko demanded, pointing at Makoto. Yukiho watched, receiving quite a bit of entertainment from the "pure-and-sweet" Nakamura good-girl.

Kenchi blinked and blushed. "I…well, it was a long time ago, I really don't remember…" he muttered.

Kyoko turned angrily on Makoto now. "You!"

Makoto blinked. "Me?"

"Yeah, you! What did he do to you?!"

Makoto looked around and motioned for Kyoko to lean in. Kyoko leaned towards her curiously. Makoto moved in and whispered in her ear.

"Mm-hm…mm-hm…ah, so that's—he WHAT?! …what do you mean, incessantly groping you? Uh-huh…WHAT?!"

Kenchi shifted awkwardly and his blush deepened, while Kyou's proud grin grew wider with every shriek of disbelief that erupted from Kyoko's mouth. When Makoto had finished describing the day's events (no doubt with incredible detail), Kyoko straightened up very slowly, clenching her fists.

"…Kenchi."

Kenchi gulped. "…yes, Kyoko?"

"…why are you so stupid?"

"…I love her…?"

"That's no excuse, you nutcase!" Kyoko screamed, whirling on him. Kenchi cried out in shock and hid himself desperately behind Kyou, who patted his head proudly.

"I'm sorry, OK?" Kenchi whined. "J-just don't kill me…!"

"What on Earth were you thinking?!" Kyoko gasped.

"I don't know!" Kenchi admitted. "I just know that something inside me snapped, and being alone with her just reminded me of how desperately I wanted her, and so I acted stupidly because I was just overwhelmed with desires! I'm a man! We have issues!"

The whole restaurant fell completely silent. Kyoko's fury slowly dwindled to a heavy anger. Makoto straightened in her chair and drank some more root-beer. Yukiho squirmed.

Kenchi blinked and his face turned the color of ripe strawberries. "Um…e-everyone heard that, huh?"

A couple of the restaurant-goers nodded. Some just ignored him completely, and others were shaking their heads and sighing. Sora returned with a glass of water and slid in next to Yukiho silently.

Kenchi gulped again and looked over at Makoto, who met his gaze evenly. He stared into her eyes for a moment before forcing himself to look away. "…I'm sorry," he repeated.

Kyoko nodded slowly. "You shouldn't be saying that to me." She jerked her head towards Makoto, who sat silently, waiting.

Kenchi turned to face her. "Makoto-chan…" He trailed off. "I…I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry. I've really missed you."

Makoto frowned. "I can't just forgive you indefinitely," she stated. "You know that."

"I know. I've wronged you," Kenchi murmured, slowly taking the empty spot next to Makoto. Makoto flinched and moved away. "…Makoto-chan?"

"What do you want?" Makoto snapped. "Don't…d-don't touch me…!"

"I won't!" Kenchi promised.

Jasper walked over to Sora and took his water, having finished the previous glass, and then returned to his seat. Sora rolled his eyes and left to get more water. Kyoko took his spot.

The air grew tense. The other restaurant-goers slowly returned to their eating and banter. But silence surrounded the air around the trio's booth.

"I'm really sorry," Kenchi said at last. "I don't know what happened. You have every right to hate me."

Makoto was silent. She reached forwards and took a few more sips of root-beer. Yukiho watched a waitress approach with ice-cream and place it in front of who she assumed to be the right people, meaning that Kyoko got Sora's ice-cream. She ate it.

Kenchi reached for Makoto's hand. She let him hold it, but continued to ignore him. Yukiho ate some ice-cream. Kyou went to the bathroom. Kyoko finished Sora's ice-cream. Jasper went to get more water. Sora returned with more water and then left to get more ice-cream.

Then Makoto shifted and turned to Kenchi. "Kenchi. I don't hate you, that much I can say. But I just don't trust you anymore, OK? Whether you meant to or not is beside the point. I was scared, and…" She paused. "Kenchi?"

"I know you were scared," Kenchi admitted. "I could see it in your eyes."

"Then why?" Makoto whispered. "Kenchi…why did you do that?"

Kenchi smiled weakly. "That's easy. Because I really, really love you, and at that moment something inside me was telling me to just let it loose before I killed myself."

Makoto blushed. "I…thank you," she muttered. "That's really sweet of you, but…"

"I like this ice-cream!" Yukiho announced suddenly, purely for the sake of breaking up the tension. Smiles spread across everyone's face.

"But," Makoto continued, "I don't think it's a good idea to be around you anymore. I just don't think I can trust you. I'm sorry."

Kenchi nodded slowly. "I understand," he murmured. Slowly, he leaned in and kissed her cheek gently. "You don't have to apologize."

"I don't mean to hurt you," Makoto said quickly. "Really, I don't."

"It's OK. I understand," Kenchi repeated. "You're very beautiful. If you don't find another man who can see that one day, then the men of the world are blind idiots."

Makoto smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you," she breathed fondly. "I really did like you, Kenchi. A lot. But I'm a little shaken still, even after all this time, so…"

Kenchi nodded. "Really, it's OK." He laughed forcibly. "I…we should probably go. …Goodbye, Makoto-chan. You…you have a nice life, OK? I just know you'll find someone else out there one day."

Makoto lurched forwards and hugged him. Yukiho ate more ice-cream and smiled in delight. Kyoko let a gentle grin light her otherwise-rough features. Sora returned with his ice-cream to find that Jasper had taken his water, so he set off to get more, groaning in annoyance.

Kenchi held Makoto against him gently, sadness and regret lighting his gaze. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"I forgive you. I don't trust you, but I forgive you," Makoto assured him. "You're a great guy, albeit a little stupid sometimes. I'm sure you'll find someone else."

"I don't want anyone else," Kenchi sighed. "That's the problem…"

"…This ice-cream is very delicious," Yukiho declared, again trying to break up the awkward tension.

"You're delicious," Kyou answered, returning from the bathroom. This, of course, earned him another slap from Kyoko. "It was a joke! I was kidding!"

Kenchi let out another sigh. "Um…w-we really should get going, probably," he said.

Makoto released him. "Yeah, I guess. Thank you."

"For…harassing you?"

"Of course not, stupid! For loving me!" Makoto laughed.

Kenchi chuckled. "…right. You're welcome. Thank you for letting me."

Makoto smiled and kissed his lips for just a moment before pulling back. "You're welcome."

Kenchi chuckled again. "Kyoko, Kyou-nii…we should go home now."

Kyoko slid out of the booth, taking Sora's ice-cream with her. Kyou nodded and winked at Yukiho, who squeaked. Kenchi slipped away from Makoto and joined his family. Kyoko waved goodbye.

"Well, this kid's right, we ought to go home," she remarked. "But I doubt this is the last we'll be seeing of each other."

"I hope it is," Kenchi admitted. "Honestly, if I can't spend every day of the rest of my life by your side, Makoto-chan, I'd rather just die."

"Don't die!" Kyoko shrieked. "You're stupid! Let's go home."

Together, the three wandered back home while Makoto tried to comprehend what she'd just heard and Sora returned with his water to find his ice-cream gone. Again, he went to get more.

"Kenchi-kun seemed quite sweet," Yukiho commented. "Completely opposite of how he acted the last time we saw him."

"Yeah," Makoto agreed. "…I'm gonna miss him."

"He loved you," Yukiho chimed. "A lot."

"I loved him too," Makoto added. "Not as much as you love Sora or as much as Sora loves you or as much as he loved me, but…"

"I know. Ah…this ice-cream…I-I'm done with it now but it was very good."

"Really? I haven't tried mine yet."

"Yes, it's delicious."

The two chatted casually, waiting for Sora to return. Eventually he did, and upon his return he screamed in annoyance rather loudly and collapsed in sobs into Yukiho's shoulder.

Jasper had taken his water.


	15. Chapter 15

_...in which 765 plus Sora and Jasper visits the beach._

"Beach day!" Hibiki cheered. "I love the beach! So many cute little critters in the waters!"

"I like the beach for the swimming," Haruka sighed. "Plus, the sun feels so good on my skin!"

"I like the beach for the water and hate it for the people!" Jasper cried. "Surfing! Surfing, you guys! I get to go surfing!"  
"I like the beach because of the magnificent view," Shijou Takane breathed. "It is quite wonderful scenery. Do you not agree?"

"I think the scenery is nice, but I really like playing in the sand," Yayoi answered. "Once my siblings and I made a sand castle bigger than my mom!"

"I like the beach 'cause I get to look like a girl—I mean, because of the swimming," Makoto said quickly. She coughed.

"Ami likes the beach 'cause of WATER FIGHTS!" Ami screeched.

"Mami likes the beach 'cause of ADVENTURES!" Mami yelled.

"You know, we didn't come here to talk about why we liked the beach," Sora muttered. "We came to—"

He broke off. A large group of big vans was seen of in the corner, unloading a bunch of teenagers, a couple of fold-up tables, and the occasional sign.

"What's that?"

"Oh, that's just the Super Flirtatious Teenagers Association, or SFTA," Iori explained dismissively. "Ignore them. They're having a convention on the beach."

"…why?" Sora asked.

"Because they want to see how many people they can flirt with in one day, which is what the conventions are all about. And it has to be successful," Iori added.

"…why the beach?"

"Just look around!" Miki piped. "Look at all the ladies in bikinis and the men in swim trunks. It's a SFTA's paradise."

Sora shrugged. "I suppose…"

"Whatever, I'm going swimming!" Jasper announced, racing towards the water.

Sora rolled his eyes. "OK then…so now what?"

Makoto cocked her head and placed her chin in her hand. "I wonder…if I walked over there in this bikini, you think guys would flirt with me? I wouldn't let it actually work, of course. It'd be evil."

"I'm totally gonna try!" Haruka gasped. She ran over to the group of teens, tripping on the way, and proceeded to giggle and twirl her hair flirtatiously. A couple of the guys engaged with her. After a few minutes of letting the boys wrap their arms around her waist and laugh with her and hold her hand, Haruka said something (likely something insulting), turned on her heels, and walked away. The boys seemed dumbfounded.

"I told them I had a boyfriend," Haruka said upon coming back, "and that even if I didn't, they were disgusting. That was hilarious."

"Haruka…you're evil," Hibiki muttered. "I'm gonna go swimmin'. Anyone wanna come with?"

"I'll race you!" Makoto shouted, taking off towards the water.

"Cheater!" Hibiki called after her, chasing her friend to the deep blue liquid.

Kisaragi Chihaya rolled her eyes and started off to a distant corner to sing.

Azusa, Iori, the twins, and Yayoi went to a small rock and took turns posing on it for fun.

Haruka eventually hooked up with Yukiho and Sora and the three of them went for a walk, and Miki joined the people posing.

Ritsuko observed them and smiled. "They're having fun," she said to herself. "This was a good idea, after all. We've had lots of auditions. Yukiho and Makoto, in particular…they took a pretty long hiatus because of Sora so we had to instantly thrust them into heavy-duty lessons and such when they returned. And…why am I talking to myself when I could be sun-tanning?" She joined up with Takane and the two of them lay on the sand to get a tan.

Jasper joined Hibiki and Makoto's race out of nowhere and beat them both, which both girls complained about afterwards.

"That was totally cheatin'!" Hibiki snapped. "Ya can't just pop up from outta nowhere and win! That's…dirty!"

"I was so in the lead!" Makoto whined. "If you hadn't gotten in the way I would've beaten her!"

"What?!" Hibiki gasped, spinning in the water to face Makoto. "That is such a lie! I was totally in the lead!"

"Were not!"

"Was too!"

"Were not!"

"I was too!"

"You were not, you liar!"

"I totally was, ya cheat!"

Sora sighed. "The water is pretty, don't you think?" he asked Yukiho. _But you're way prettier._

"Yes, it's quite beautiful," Yukiho agreed.

"I want to go swim in it," Haruka announced. "But I thought it would be nice to keep you two under check. Makoto-chan tells me the kinds of things you two do when you're alone." She smirked and gave the two a knowing glance. "Like that kiss, and those confessions, not to mention the fact that you touched her, Sora-kun…"

"H-how did you know about that?!" Sora gasped. "A-and besides, i-it was completely on accident…!"

Yukiho squeaked loudly.

Haruka stared. "…I…didn't actually know anything," she admitted. "I just made an assumption. But it looks like I was right! What exactly happened?"

Sora cleared his throat. "Well…we were in a dark closet…and I was groping for a light switch…and what I found was not a light switch."

Haruka blinked and started laughing. "Wow, isn't that such a classic mistake?" she exclaimed. "Poor Sora-kun. Yukiho-chan was probably very upset…"

"Yeah, she passed out. But that only happened after I kissed her and told her I loved her."

"Oh, isn't that nice?"

Sora was about to say something when he bumped into someone else—a girl. She exclaimed in surprise and then turned around to see who'd jostled her. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize—"

"It's my fault," Sora said quickly. "I didn't look where I was going."

The girl examined him. "…gosh, you're hot."

Sora blinked. _Whoops. Time to run. _"Thank you…excuse me, I think I dropped a soda can back there…"

"You're Sora!" the girl gasped. "Oh my gosh! You're Sora! I'm Hibachi Yui, from the SFTA. All the girls in the groups love you!"

_The SFTA? _Sora struggled to remember where he'd heard that before, and Yui whistled to a group of her friends playing volleyball in the corner. All of them were wearing particularly revealing bikinis. Sora avoided looking at them as much as possible. The girls looked over and ran up to him, and Yukiho took a step closer in an almost protective manner.

"EEK! You're Sora-kun! Ohmigosh, I love you so much!" one of the girls cried. "I'm Luka! You should totally take me out on a date!"

"H-he's mine…!" Yukiho yelped, then she blushed and hid behind Haruka.

Luka ignored her and latched onto Sora's arm. Sora immediately tried to pry her off.

"Like, you are like, so totally hot, with like, a capital L," a different girl scoffed. "You should, like, date me. Or like, _totally _marry me or something, 'cause, like, that would be so cool!"

"My Sora-kun!" Luka hissed, squishing her breasts into Sora's arm. Sora blushed and tried again to shove her off.

"I kinda have a girlfriend, y'know…" he muttered, casting a glance at Yukiho. Yukiho blushed, squeaked very loudly, hyperventilated, and passed out into Haruka's arms. "Aw, dang it! Look what you did, Sora…"

Luka ignored everything. "I love you!"

"I like, totally love him more!" the girl from before snapped.

"Girls, girls, please!" Yui yelled. The girls fell silent. "…he bumped into me. He's mine."

The girls forgot all courtesies and just jumped on Sora and tackled him (and Luka) to the ground. About six of them tried making out with him, another three just touched his skin, and the rest were scrambling to get closer. Sora screamed. Haruka watched with amusement lighting her gaze.

"Jasper is such a jerk," Makoto huffed. "I so would've beaten you if he hadn't gotten in the way!"

"Ya so wouldn't've," Hibiki lashed. She kicked her feet lazily against the edge of the rock they were on and observed first the ocean, then the group of idols posing on a different rock not far away. As she was watching this, her eye caught on a group of young men slowly approaching them. She elbowed Makoto. "Hotties at five o' clock."

"What?" Makoto's head spun in the direction Hibiki had indicated. "Wow, you're right. They are hot. Are they coming over here?"

Hibiki nodded. "I wonder if they're from the SFTA…?"

"Who cares?" Makoto giggled. "They're hot boys and they're coming over here." She waved.

Hibiki waved too. The boys waved back.

"They waved back," Makoto hissed. "That means they were watching us."

"They were watchin' me," Hibiki corrected proudly. She batted her eyes flirtatiously. The boys were at the rock now.

"Hey there, ladies," one of them greeted. Makoto broke into a spastic giggle fit.

"Hear that?" she squealed to Hibiki. "He called me a 'lady'."

Hibiki shot her a glare and turned back to the boys. "Yo!" she greeted. "Didja come here to the beach with the SFTA?"

"Yeah," another boy greeted. "Say, are you a model or something?"

Hibiki cast a triumphant look at Makoto and stretched into an attractive pose. "Why, yes," she answered. "…yes I am."

"Are not!" Makoto scoffed. "You're an _idol_, not a model."

"Shut up!" Hibiki hissed.

"Idols?" one of the boys echoed. "You're an idol?"

"We both are," Makoto said quickly, angling her body to get her face in full view of the boys. Hibiki leaned back to block her. Makoto climbed over Hibiki to sit in front of the boys. Hibiki pushed her off the rock. Makoto pulled Hibiki down with her.

The two of them scuffled in the sand while the boys watched in amusement. Eventually, the two girls straightened up, cleared their throats, and climbed back onto the rock.

"…We're both idols," Hibiki said at last. "…but I'm better."

"Are not!"

"Are too! I'm perfect so naturally I'm better than ya!"

"Oh yeah?" Makoto challenged. "Then what about that audition you failed just last week because you tripped over Takane?"

"I…" Hibiki trailed off. "Th-that was Takane's fault for gettin' in my way!"

"Hey, girls!" the first boy shouted. He laughed. "Calm down. I'm sure you're both fantastic idols." He added a wink that almost made Makoto fall off the rock. Hibiki blushed and twirled her bangs around with her finger.

"But you're way prettier," the boy added, addressing Hibiki.

Makoto jumped to her feet. "Wait, _what_?!"

"Yeah," the second boy agreed. "Hey, my name's Yuu. We should totally go out or something."

"…WHAT?!" Makoto cried. "Th-that's so not fair! I-I want a boyfriend too…!"

The last boy looked her up and down and shrugged. "Nah, she's hotter."

Makoto sniffed loudly and plopped back onto the rock. "Jerks…!"

The boys ignored her and gathered around Hibiki, who fired another triumphant look in Makoto's general direction.

"Hey, you know, there's a restaurant down there," Yuu told Hibiki. "We should go down there."

"I wanted to take her to the park," the first boy said. "Oh yeah, I'm Haru."

"I'm Ganaha Hibiki," Hibiki said, "the perfect super-idol from Okinawa! Nice to meetcha!"

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Gorou," the last boy answered.

Makoto started pouting.

"Well, y'know, I certainly wouldn't mind goin' to the restaurant with ya," Hibiki announced loudly. "We could hold hands and _everythin'_."

Makoto stuck her tongue out at her.

"Sounds great," Haru exclaimed. "Then, shall we go?"

"Why not," Hibiki laughed. She stood up and was about to climb down the rock when Makoto grabbed her arm. She turned around and was met with a depressed look from her tomboyish friend, who tugged on her arm pitifully. Hibiki sighed. "Whaddaya want?"

"Please don't go," Makoto whimpered. "At least not without me. It's not fair that you get three super-hot guys all to yourself. I want one."

Hibiki frowned. "Girl, ya had your chance to be with a dude, and ya turned 'im down!"

"He almost _raped_ me!" Makoto snapped. "You expected me to trust him?"

"Well, these ones want ME!"

"Well, I want THEM!"

"No one cares what ya want!"

"Pleeeeeaaaase?!"

Hibiki moaned in annoyance. "Ugyaa, jus' give it up already!"

At that moment, another, taller boy approached the group and looked over to Makoto. "You're Makoto, right? That little A-cup girl my little brother is obsessed with?"

Makoto crossed her arms across her chest and blushed, turning to face the offensive boy. "Yeah, what's it to you?" She paused.

Standing in front of them was Nakamura Kyou, which perfectly explained the comment about his little brother. He waved, stole a glance at Hibiki's chest, and smiled approvingly. Hibiki was too busy flirting to notice, but Makoto did and she threw a small rock at him. It plinked against his arm.

"Hey Makoto, could you stand up real quick?" he asked. Makoto did as instructed cautiously. "Uncross your arms." Makoto raised an eyebrow, then obeyed. Kyou whipped out his cellphone and snapped a picture. Makoto instantly re-crossed her arms and blushed.

"W-what was that?!" she yelped.

"You're in a bikini," Kyou announced. "So I took a picture to show Kenchi-chan."

"D-don't show him that!"

"Relax. I'm sure he'll think you're adorable. I don't know why, but…you know. He's weird."

"You're a jerk!"

"Is there any guy on the planet you _don't _think is a jerk?"

"I…no! Not yet! Because all of you are mean!"

Hibiki tried to climb down the rock again, but Makoto's hand flashed out and grabbed her arm again.

"Please let me come!" she begged. Hibiki sighed.

"OK, OK, fine! I'll see what I can do," she groaned. "Hey, y'all, is it OK if I bring a friend along?"

"Is it that friend?" Gorou asked, gesturing to Azusa on another rock not far away with Iori, the twins, Yayoi, and Miki. "Or one of those friends?" He gestured now to Ritsuko and Takane tanning on the sand. "Or maybe that friend?" He pointed to Miki.

"All of the girls you pointed out are huge-chested!" Makoto whined. "Perverts."

Gorou shrugged. "Huge-chested girls are hot. And sexy. Unlike some people." He shot a glare to Makoto, who cringed and tried to further conceal her chest (or lack thereof).

Hibiki sighed again. "I meant this friend," she declared, pointing to Makoto, who was now silently pouting to herself.

Yuu, Haru, and Gorou observed her while Kyou went to go take pictures of Azusa's breasts without her noticing.

Then Haru shook his head. "Nah, we're only interested in you." He leaned against the rock. Hibiki looked to Makoto and shrugged.

"OK. Then, I guess it'll just be the four o' us." She smirked at Makoto, who developed a rather depressed expression and buried her face in her knees.

Another boy joined the group. "What's going on over here?"

"Oh, whaddaya know, now there's another super-hot dude here to take me on a date," Hibiki laughed loudly. Makoto made an irritated noise and burrowed further into her knees. "Yo, I'm Ganaha Hibiki and that's Kikuchi Makoto, even though I know ya probably don't care 'bout her."

The new boy blinked. "Wait, you two girls are from 765 Productions, are you not?"

"Yup!" Hibiki sniffed proudly. "We sure are!"

"Really? I'm a big fan," the unknown boy said brightly. "So what's going on over here?"

"We were just about to take Hibiki-chan to a restaurant," Yuu answered.

"Oh, just Hibiki-chan?" The boy shook his head. "You couldn't possibly take one without the other. That's bad manners. As a matter of fact, I'll bet we could take all of 765 Productions to that restaurant. Want to try?"

"I get Azusa-san!" Kyou shouted from the other rock. Azusa offered him a smile.

"I wanna take Miki-chan!" Gorou announced, running off to Miki.

"I still like Hibiki-chan," Yuu said firmly. Haru looked over to Iori.

"Iori-chan looks very cute. I think she would go with me if I asked politely." He nodded decisively. "Yuki-kun, who're you going to take?"

"Hm…" The un-named boy examined the girls around him, then turned to look back at the two in front of him. "How about you, Makoto-chan? Would you care to be my date?"

Makoto blushed and looked over at Hibiki, who smiled approvingly and climbed down the rock to greet Yuu. "Um…sure. But first…let me go ask Yukiho if it's OK with her."

"That's fine," the boy agreed. "My name is Matsumoto Yuki."

"I think you already know my name," Makoto muttered. "Um…I-I'm going to go find Yukiho. Be right back."

"Thank you so much, Jasper," Sora sighed. "If you hadn't shown up, those girls would've eaten my lips off." He rubbed his mouth in annoyance.

"Bwarf," Jasper uttered.

"Um…cool…?"

Yukiho had since awoken from her unconscious state and was currently positioned behind Haruka in fear of the Jasper who had scared everyone away with his talk of flipping and killing people. Haruka giggled.

"That was amazing, Jasper-kun," she announced. "Really, it was."

"I know," Jasper answered. "Yo Yukiho, your best friend is about to tackle your boyfriend to the ground."

"What?" Sora and Yukiho yelped at once.

"SORA!"

"W-where the heck did you come from—GYAH! M-Makoto, get off of me!"

"See?" Jasper grinned proudly.

"Impressive," Haruka murmured.

Makoto beamed down at Sora from her position on top of him. "Sora, this super-hot guy just asked me out, but I'm only going if you take Yukiho too! So you have to take Yukiho to a restaurant!"

"I will if you get off," Sora told her. Makoto scrambled to her feet and held out a hand to help Sora up, which he ignored. "OK, so where are we going?"

"To a restaurant."

"What restaurant?"

"A Restaurant! It's literally called A Restaurant!"

"…you mean This Restaurant?"

"No, but they're part of the same chain."

"Oh. OK."

Yukiho and Haruka stood.

"S-so…S-Sora-kun and I are going on a date…to A Restaurant?" Yukiho squeaked.

"Yeah, and all of the rest of us are going too!"

"I'm taking Chihaya," Jasper announced. "I like Chihaya. She doesn't annoy me like most of the rest of you do."

"Well, you'd better go find her before the SFTA does."

"SFTA?" Sora echoed. "…going after Chihaya? I don't think that's going to happen."

Makoto slapped him. "That was for Chihaya!"

Sora rubbed his face. "…OK, ow."

Jasper ran off to find Chihaya. A random boy from the SFTA approached Haruka and asked her to accompany him. She said yes. Sora sighed.

"OK, OK, I'll go with you. It'll be nice to go on a date with Ohime-chan again. We haven't done that in a while."

"Yay! I love you! OK! I'm gonna go find Yuki and tell him you said yes. OK bye!" Makoto gave Sora and Yukiho a quick hug and then ran off towards a rather largish rock inhabited by Hibiki and two boys.

Sora shook his head. "Is this OK with you, Ohime-chan?"

"Makoto-chan looked so happy, s-so even if I wanted to say no there's no way I could," Yukiho replied.

"You really love her, don't you?" Sora murmured softly.

Yukiho nodded, blushed, and muttered something Sora couldn't understand.

"What was that?" he pressed.

Yukiho muttered it again, still unintelligible.

"I can't understand you…"

"I LOVE YOU TOO!" Yukiho yelled. Sora jumped in alarm.

"Well, that was unexpected," he laughed lightly. "I love you too…also…Ohime-chan. Come on, let's go to A Restaurant."

Yukiho smiled slightly and took his hand. Together, they wandered off to join the rest of the idols and their dates (Jasper had found Chihaya and somehow convinced the blue-haired songstress to go with him). The group wandered off to A Restaurant, chatting excitedly.

**(Author's Note: Wow, this was the longest chapter yet :/ I'm dedicating this chapter to Jo again, because she gave me the idea for the SFTA and the beach (although the date part was my own idea) and let's face it, Sora is her character so without her, none of this would've existed. Anyways...thank you all for reading this! Unfortunately, nobody dies yet. But they will at the end of the book where I guess I'll skip three-hundred years to when they all die. Anyhow. I love you all! I'm really close to being able to finish the book now, actually-I'd guess around thirteen chapters left?-so I'm excited. Yeah. Bye~~! *~Grace~* :3**

**Oh yeah! One more thing: I would like to apologize for the sudden changes of POV. In the original document on Microsoft Word, there's a little thingy to separate Sora's situation/POV from Makoto's situation/POV, for example. But when I upload onto FF, it omits that completely. So, I know it probably makes it a little difficult to read. I tried adding in different thingies-like "dash-dash-dash-dash" or "dash-space-dash-space-dash" or something like that, but it omits everything I tried. So...yeah. Sorry.)**


	16. Chapter 16

_…in which the date with the SFTA is already over since I didn't feel like writing it and _

_ Grace and Jo play a mean prank_

"You know, Jo," Grace said to her younger sister one evening, "I really wanna play a mean prank on someone."

"I want to marry Sora, but that's obviously not gonna happen," Jo answered.

"Well, I want Makoto period and that WILL happen one day so…"

"That'll happen when Sora makes out with me."

"Then we agree. Mean prank?"

"Oranges."

"Glad to see we're on the same page."

"Hey all you people!"

Sora turned in the direction of the voice.

"Hey all you people!" said a different voice.

Yukiho blinked and looked also. "Who's there…?"

"Hey all you people won't you listen to meeeee?" the same person sang.

"I just had this sandwich!" the first person cried. Upon closer examination, Sora realized it was Jo, and her sister Grace was beside her.

"No ordinary sandwich," Grace said matter-of-factly.

"A sandwich filled with jellyfish jellyyyyyy!" Jo sang.

"Hey man, you've got to try this sandwich!"

"It's no ordinary sandwich!"

"It's the tastiest sandwich in the seeaaaaa!"

"Skibitty-beeta-botta-boota-botta-daddity-daw, yeaaaah…"

There was silence.

"…seriously though, hey guys."

"Yeah, hi SORA."

Sora cowered behind Yukiho, who waved. Makoto cowered behind Sora, who shoved her away, forcing her to hide behind Haruka.

"So, we've just received some news," Grace said solemnly. "We want you all to listen up."

"Yeah…?" Sora pressed cautiously.

"There's this team of rapists going around raping people in their sleep. They're infected with some kind of virus that impregnates their target on the first try," Jo elaborated. "So we just want you all to take a test and make sure you're OK. Sound good."

Yukiho squeaked loudly and buried her face in Sora's shoulder.

"OK?" Jo repeated.

"OK," the idols droned.

Chihaya blinked. "Hey…you guys…?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…Madara is kind of a rapist. He attacked me last night. If I am to be perfectly frank, I'm scared."

Grace blinked back. "Well, you know, there's a chance that you guys' boyfriends might have, like…been infected with some sort of disease that takes over their brains. People do crazy things at night. Like once, I ate a whole box of shoes at night."

"I had a conversation with my mom," Jo added.

"That's not weird," Sora said quietly.

"It is when my mom is dead," Jo stated.

"Oh…"

"So anyways, Ami, you go first. There's a booth set up for you right over there."

Ami nodded and walked into the booth. She walked out a moment later holding the pregnancy test object in her hand "Ami is positive," she announced. "Ami will destroy the boyfriend Ami doesn't have who did this horrid thing to Ami."

Grace shrugged. "That stinks. Azusa?"

Looking rather terrified, Azusa entered the booth. A sharp cry arose a moment later. "I-I'm positive too! That rapist must have targeted me…!"

"Chihaya?"

Azusa excited the booth sadly and handed the offensive object to Chihaya. The vocalist entered the booth, walked out a moment later, and picked up a large knife.

"Where you going with that, Chihaya?" Jo asked.

"Madara's house."

"Oh. Positive, huh?"

"Yes."

"Well, don't leave just yet."

"Fine."

"Haruka, you're up!"

Haruka swallowed and took a deep breath. "I'm OK," she told herself, strolling less-than-confidently into the booth. "I'm OK, I'm OK, I'm OK, I'm OK…"

There was a period where one could only hear Haruka's murmurings. Then, she squeaked in alarm and the "I'm OK" turned to "I'M NOT OK! I'M NOT OK! THIS IS NOT OK WITH ME!" She walked out of the booth crying loudly and handed the object to Hibiki, then retreated to Chihaya and sobbed into her shoulder. At that moment, a young boy with spiky white hair and pale skin walked over and sat next to Iori.

"Hey, Iori-chan," he greeted. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, Tooru!" Iori gasped. "Well, everyone here was just taking a test…because apparently, some stupid rapist was going around raping people and making them pregnant. So we're just making sure…"

"Ah." Tooru stared at Grace and Jo, who were making wild arm gestures to him not to spoil anything. "Right, I heard that somewhere too. Good idea."

"They also said," Iori began, hissing through her teeth, "that there's a possibility _you_ might have done something to me. So if that comes out positive, _I am killing you_."

Tooru gulped. "Um…right…"

Hibiki suddenly wailed in horror. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me…!"

"You too?" Makoto whined, suddenly very frightened.

Hibiki ran out of the room crying and collapsed against Takane. "That dog-boy did this, didn't he? I'm gonna kill 'im…!" She sobbed loudly and threw the object at Iori, who caught it nervously. She shot a glare at Tooru and vanished into the booth.

"I really, really hope that's not positive," he whispered to Sora.

"I know how you feel, man…"

Kenchi approached idly. "Ah, Sora-kun. Prez told me to come get you. We have some sort of meeting." He glanced momentarily at Makoto, who stomped on his foot. "Ow! W-what did I do?!"

"I don't know!" Makoto snapped. "But at the rate things are going, you are probably going to die."

Kenchi blushed. "I—"

Iori suddenly burst out crying. She ran out of the booth and over to Tooru, shoving the green plus sign in his face.

"You're stupid!" she wailed, slapping him. Tooru blinked.

"But I didn't—"

"Shut up!" Iori slapped him again.

"Ow! Stop that!"

"No!" One more time.

"I'm sorry, OK?!"

"That doesn't fix it!" The rich Minase daughter collapsed in sobs into her "boyfriend's" shoulder. She chucked the object in Makoto's general direction. The tomboyish girl bent and slowly lifted it. She took a deep breath.

"Don't worry Yukiho, I'll be fine," she said in fake brightness. "I'll be fine…and if I'm not, you are dead."

"I-I'm dead…?!" Yukiho gasped.

"Not you." Makoto shot Kenchi a glare. "_Him_."

"I-I didn't do anything!" Kenchi insisted.

"We'll just see about that…"

Slowly, the girl vanished into the booth. Long moments of silence passed. Kenchi shifted awkwardly. Then, the curtain parted and Makoto walked slowly back out of the booth, wiping tears from her eyes.

"You…are dead."

Kenchi gulped. "I…"

"When the heck did this happen?!"

"I-I don't know! I-It wasn't me, I promise…!"

"You really did do something in that room, didn't you?!"

"I didn't even take your pants!"

"Oh, but you _wanted _to!"

"I…well, yeah, but…"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Makoto sobbed, punching Kenchi in the face. The boy stumbled back and Makoto buried her face in Yukiho's shoulder. Yukiho tentatively took the object from her and tossed it to Mami.

Mami vanished into the room and came out a moment later with a plus sign on the object. She threw it to Miki and sat curled up on the floor beside her sister. Miki walked in confidently and exited dejectedly, placing the object in Ritsuko's waiting hands. She sat beside Hibiki in silence.

Ritsuko walked into the booth, walked out, placed the object reading "+" in Takane's hand, and then walked away.

"Where are you going?" Grace called.

"To see about getting an abortion."

"You're WHAT?! D-don't kill a baby!" Grace cried. She turned and whispered to Jo. "It's not even real!"

"Yeah. Maybe rigging those things so that they all read positive all the time was a bad idea," Jo contemplated.

"Are you kidding me?" Grace laughed. "This is hilarious!"

"True…"

Takane had since entered and exited the booth, a shocked expression on her face, and was now murmuring quietly to herself beside Miki and Hibiki. Hibiki sniffled, took the object from Takane, and slid it across the floor to Yayoi, who lifted it slowly. Sh sniffed, tears already pooling in her eyes, and Grace and Jo again reconsidered their cruel prank.

In the end, they said nothing as Yayoi entered the booth, broke into loud sobs, and ran out in a frenzy, bowling into Iori.

"Iori-chan…! I-I'm too young! I'm scared!"

"I know! I hate you, Tooru! You're stupid!"

"I didn't even do anything!"

Finally, the object reached Yukiho. The trembling girl lifted it and sniffed. She immediately broke down crying.

"Makoto-chan!" she yelped. "I-I'm terrified…!"

Makoto over at Sora, her face wet with tears. "Sora! If that girl comes out positive, I will _kill you with spiky weaponry sixty-five times over._"

Sora swallowed. "…right. Trust me, she'll be fine."

Yukiho headed inside, taking her time. She was inside for a few minutes before she finally emerged and ran over to Sora. "You…!"

Sora blinked. "…you have got to be kidding me."

"H-how could you do this?!" Yukiho cried.

Makoto ran over to Grace and retrieved a spiky weapon of some kind and then returned.

"I promise, I didn't do anything," Sora soothed. "Calm down. Maybe you read it wrong…"

"I did not…!"

"Ohime-chan, I never even touched you…"

"My breast! Y-you touched my b-breast in that closet!"

"How would I rape you through your breast?"

"I don't know! I don't even know what rape means!"

Makoto leaned across and whispered in her ear.

"It's…oh, so…a-ah! Th-that's horrible!"

Makoto nodded and glared angrily at first Kenchi, then Sora.

Grace and Jo clapped lightly. "Good job, everyone! Most of you cried!" Grace cheered.

"This is horrible!" Jo laughed. "We're awful people!"

"So, as it turns it, those things were rigged."

Yukiho dropped the offensive object. "Wait…what?"

"Jo and I wanted to play a mean prank, so we rigged all the object-thingies to come out positive no matter what. And we made up that story, too."

Silence.

"You WHAT?!" Iori demanded. "I…you…! That was…!"

"Really mean? Not funny at all? Well, for us it was," Jo commented. "Anyways, feel free to try again with this un-rigged one and make sure." She tossed an object down to the waiting hands of Yukiho, who didn't catch it, but Sora did and he handed it to her. All of the girls re-tested (except for Ritsuko, who would have to find out at the hospital) and they all came out negative except for Chihaya, who took the spiky weapon from Makoto and stomped furiously to Madara's house.

Iori approached Tooru. "You're not stupid!" she chattered excitedly. Giddily, she kissed the boy's cheek. Tooru blushed.

"…you know, I got slapped three times…"

"Don't push it."

"Yes ma'am."

Kenchi sighed and took Sora by the wrist. "Sora-kun, I told you we have a meeting…"

"Right," Sora sighed. "Well, we have to go. Bye, Ohime-chan. Are you feeling better?"

Yukiho nodded, smiling. "Y-yes. Now that I know I'm OK, everything is fine."

The two boys nodded and started walking off. Makoto ran up behind Kenchi and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned.

"Um…sorry for punching you," she said quietly. "And thanks for not being a Madara."

"Trust me, Makoto-chan, if there's one thing I will never do to you it's that," Kenchi promised. "Not since the incident with Kyoko."

"What happened?" Makoto pried innocently.

"Well…I walked into her room one evening because I heard her screaming, and my mom's friend's husband had climbed in through the window and was harassing her. So I attacked him and drove him off, but…he pulled a knife on me." Slowly, Kenchi parted the side-swept bangs covering his left eyes, revealing a long scar and a closed, obviously no-longer-working eye.

Makoto drew in a sharp breath. "That's…"

"…why I wear my hair like this," Kenchi finished, smiling grimly and dropping his bangs back into place. "The look of fear in Kyoko's eyes is something I'll never forget. I promised myself on that day that I would never let anything like that happen to anyone else as long as I was around." Gently, he reached over and touched Makoto's cheek. "So, you can be assured I'll never put you through it myself."

Makoto smiled. "Thank you. It actually means a lot to hear that."

"When I…you know…did all that to you…" Kenchi scratched his neck nervously. "I guess I'd forgotten how terrifying it can be for the girl. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Makoto said slowly. "I'm still a little upset, but I forgive you."

"I thought we had a meeting," Sora sighed. "Come on, kid. Let's go."

Kenchi nodded. "Right. Bye, Makoto-chan."

"See you later?" Makoto suggested, a twinkle in her eye.

Kenchi blushed and grinned. "Yes! Thank you!"

"It's not a problem. Somehow I feel like I can trust you now."

"You can, I promise…!"

"We have to _go,_" Sora moaned. "Bye, Ohime-chan."

Yukiho waved. "Goodbye…!"

Tugging Kenchi by the wrist, Sora walked away towards their agency, waving goodbye until the last second. Yukiho walked up next to Makoto.

"A-are you sure that was a good idea?" she whispered.

"He lost an eye defending his sister from a rapist," Makoto replied. "I think we're good. Hey, Yukiho?"

"Yes?"

"…could you go get Takane for me?"


	17. Chapter 17

_…in which Takane and Makoto are a part of the CIA and Sora hacks computers._

"See, Takane? It'll be easy. Just do whatever I say."

"I believe my character should have a dark past. Some kind of horrible secret surrounding the ribbons that her grandmother used to wear around her neck. I also believe my character should enjoy frisking people."

"…whatever you say, Takane. You are a CIA agent after all."

Takane nodded and fiddle with the police cap on her head. "But you, Sir, are my leader, after all."

The silver-haired idol had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore a police cap on her head. She also wore a police suit and a small pair of shades. Makoto wore a black fedora over her short, boyish-cut hair , a pair of slightly larger shades, and a suit and tie. Yukiho, looking on in silence, could recognize the two if she tried, but she knew that Sora would have too much on his hands to focus enough.

"That's right, and don't you forget it!" Makoto ordered in a gruff, masculine voice. "Right, then! This is my CIA voice. Takane, don't give me away."

"Sir, I think my name should be Helen," Takane announced.

"Right, Helen! Now, let's go accuse Sora of some random crime!"

"Yes, Sir!"

The doorbell of Sora's front door rang. The boy sighed and ignored it. The doorbell rang again. He moaned and went to answer it. Just as he was about to open the door, someone kicked it open. Sora screamed, alarmed, and jumped back. Standing in his doorframe was a woman in a police suit with shades, and beside her was a young man in a suit and tie and shades. The young man scowled.

"You!"

"Me?"

"I wanna take you to a gay bar!"

"WHAT?!"

"I lied! You gullible fool! I'm here because I hear you've been…doing something bad!"

Sora blinked. "OK, wait…what?"

"Hacking computers," the woman said evenly. "You have been hacking computers."

"Right, Helen!" the young man confirmed gruffly. "You, boy, have been hacking computers."

"I…who are you?" Sora asked.

"We're from the CIA," the man said. He whipped out a badge and whipped it open and closed quickly, his partner doing the same. Sora examined it.

"That's a coupon to the ice-cream place!" he sighed.

"Don't sass me, boy!" the man yelled, slapping him. Sora touched his face.

"OK…ow."

"Now come with us! You're under arrest for hacking computers!"

"I don't even have a computer! My old one stopped working over a year ago and I haven't bought a new one yet!"

"Sir," the woman began suddenly, "may I suggest I frisk him?"

"Go, Helen!" the man ordered.

"Yes, Sir." The woman advanced and patted her hands up and down Sora's body briskly, then she stepped back. "He's clean, Sir."

The man (who Sora decided to just think of as Sir) took a step closer. "He smells like a criminal," he hissed.

"You smell like…something really gross," Sora muttered. "I'm dead serious."

"Don't sass me, boy!" Another slap.

"Ow!"

"Now come on! You're coming with us!"

"I don't want to—"

Helen suddenly lurched forwards, grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind his back. Sir smiled approvingly. Sora let out a cry of pain and confusion.

"What the…?!"

Sir walked behind him and took his arm, and then he reached over and grabbed his other arm and pulled it behind his back. Sora yelped.

"Helen! The hand-cuffs!"

There was silence.

"Um…Sir?"

"What?!"

"I don't…we do not have any hand-cuffs."

"What?!" Sir gasped. "Ah…dangit, Helen!"

"Sir, I can frisk him again if you wish."

"Go, Helen!"

Again, the woman named Helen stepped forwards and patted her hands briskly down his body. She stepped back, nodding.

"Fine. I'll just hold you still like this. Now get in the car!"

More silence.

"Helen," Sir hissed. "Helen, where's the car?"

Helen leaned in to his ear. "I did not bring my car, Sir. I thought you were going to bring yours."

"Ah, dangit, Helen! We don't have a car?!"

"You know, I never hacked any computers…" Sora moaned.

"Don't you sass me!"

"OW! Stop doing that! You slap just like…" Sora trailed off. "Just like…Makoto." He sighed. "Makoto. That's you, huh? Let go of my arms."

"I don't know what you're talking about, kid," "Sir" lashed.

"And Takane," Sora continued, ignoring him. "Takane, that's you, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Takane answered pleasantly, removing her hat and shades. "I am quite surprised that you managed to figure me out."

"Takane! Shut up!" Makoto ordered.

Sora sighed again. "Makoto, seriously, let go of my arms."

There was another long period of silence. Then, all at once, Makoto released Sora, slapped him a fourth time, grabbed Takane's hand, and ran with her out the door, shouting, "YOU'LL NEVER PROVE IT WAS MEEEE! NEVER!"

Sora watched them go and rolled his shoulders. Finally, he chuckled to himself and shook his head.

"That girl," he said quietly, "is going to get herself arrested for child abuse one day."


	18. Chapter 18

_…in which we take a break from MakoYukiSora and focus on Hibiki._

"I gotta prank, yo!"

"Well, what is it?" Makoto asked excitedly. "Sora figured ours out, by the way."

"I thought we did wonderfully," Takane muttered.

"Yeah, so did I…anyways, Hibiki, what's yours?"

The animal-loving girl beamed proudly. "I'm sellin' flowers."

"…that's it?"

"Yup, but they're fake an' I'm chargin' a ton for 'em! Plus I'm gonna threaten that poor 961 sap…"

"961?" Takane echoed. "You are pranking Shouta?"

"Ya can't prank a prankster, Takane," Hibiki sighed. "You'd get figured out right away. That's how prankin' pranksters works. Guess again."

"Touma?" Takane tried.

"Ugyaa, Takane, you're bad at this!" Hibiki huffed. "Makoto! Your turn!"

"Hokuto?" Makoto suggested.

Hibiki snapped her fingers. "Yep, that's the ticket! It's gonna be fun, promise. Y'all're gonna watch me, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Of course."

"…and then I said, I said to her: 'you know that I love you, my dear, but I just can't do this anymore', and so then Alisson showed up and it was nice because…as you are well-aware, Touma-kun, my girlfriend is very hot," Hokuto said into his phone. "…ah, Touma-kun, you obviously don't understand. You don't have a girlfriend and you never will…what was that?! How dare you…I am not a playboy! …I-I gave that up when I met Alisson! …OK, maybe sometimes I'll get a drink with the occasional girl, but that's just when I'm depressed…you know what, Touma-kun? Good day to you…I don't care if it's evening!"

A knock sounded at the door as Hokuto slammed his phone on the table. He sighed. "Hn, that must be the pizza…"

He opened the door to find a girl with long black hair, bright blue eyes, and a moofie on her head. She was wearing a nurse outfit and held a bouquet of flowers.

"Good evening, sir!" she greeted. "I'm sellin'—selling flowers. Would ya—you like some?"

Hokuto blinked. "Flowers…? Ah, I could give some to Alisson! How much?"

"Thirteen-thousand-nine-hundred-twelve!" the girl announced. Hibiki, who secretly was the girl, struggled to control her Okinawan dialect.

"Thirteen-thousand-nine-hundred-twelve yen?" Hokuto echoed. "That's a little—"

"Million!" the girl (who we know as Hibiki, but Hokuto does not) screeched.

"That's—"

"Each!"

"That's ridiculous!" Hokuto gasped. "Even as an idol you cannot expect me to have that much!"

"Then, just give me what you have and we'll call it even," the girl said, speaking slowly and carefully. She nodded, proud of her work at speaking without an accent.

Hokuto frowned. "And…please give me a reason, dear."

"That's easy I'm cute."

"That's not a good enough reason…"

"And," the girl began, "I have your precious little girlfriend…" Her eye twitched.

Hokuto's eyes widened. "You…what are you doing to Alisson? Where is she?"

"As we speak she is being fried in a giant pot of boiling apple cider!" Hibiki had just come up with this answer on the spot. She thought it sounded pretty good. But, just in case, she added, "In that one pool that's all drained out for the winter!"

"But, it's summer."

"I…she's dying, OK? That's all ya gotta know…need to know!"

Hokuto shook his head. "I'm going inside."

"Buy my flowers!" the girl/Hibiki ordered through her teeth.

"I don't—"

"Listen, you!" Hibiki/the girl lashed. She grabbed Hokuto by the shirt and yanked him closer to her. "If you don't buy my flowers, I will burn your house to the ground! I will make every day of your life a living nightmare! And I will kill your girlfriend! So buy. My. Flowers!"

Hokuto suddenly looked frightened. He blinked. "I…right…how much did you say it was again…?"

"All the money ya got!"

"I…OK. Here you are."

The girl shoved the money into her pocket and shoved the flowers into Hokuto's arms. "Thank you!" she squeaked. Then she turned and skipped off merrily.

Hokuto sighed. "Well, on the bright side now I have some flowers to give to Alisson when she gets released. And…" He trailed off, looking very closely at the flowers in his arms. "These…these are plastic!"

"Yup!" the girl yipped.

Suddenly, a tall, thin blonde girl walked up behind Hokuto and placed her hands on his shoulders as Hokuto angrily dropped the offensive flowers on the ground. "Hey, Hokuto!" she greeted.

Hokuto smiled. "Ah, hello, Alisson…" He paused. "Alisson?! When did you…how?"

"Well…I walked over here."

Hokuto glared after the girl, who laughed evilly. "I want my money back!" he called, but it was no use.

In the end, Alisson had to pay for their pizza.

"Hibiki! I can't believe you got all this money!" Makoto laughed. "Poor guy, you probably terrified him half to death. And…since when did Hokuto, of all people, have a girlfriend?"

"Of course you'd be upset 'bout that," Hibiki said cheekily, relaxing back into her Okinawan dialect. "You're just mad 'cause you're jealous. Didn't he ask ya out once?"

Makoto blushed. "I…couldn't care less about him!" she huffed. "Anyway, you should buy us some food."

Hibiki nodded. "Right, then…let's go back to the agency an' I'll get us some pizza!"


	19. Chapter 19

_…in which Grace and Jo host 7 Minutes in Heaven._

"Hey Yukiho, you know how they say you're supposed to marry your best friend?"

Yukiho blinked. "Why, yes, Makoto-chan. I've heard that before…"

"Then, you and I should just get married and then we won't need to give our hearts away to anyone else," Makoto declared. "Since you're my best friend, and I'm pretty sure I'm your best friend…"

"You are," Yukiho said quickly.

"…so we should get married," Makoto concluded. She grinned and leaned back in her chair. "And you want to know the best part? That way you don't have to be afraid of me since I'm a girl."

"…Makoto-chan, isn't it…illegal for two girls to get m-married?"

"Not in some parts of North America it isn't. We just have to move to North America and get married in New York. I think a New York wedding would be fun. And, and…you know what else? No one even needs to know we're both girls, because as much as I would love to wear a dress on my wedding day, if it was for you I'd be willing to wear a tux, and that way no one would be able to tell I was a girl."

"…Makoto-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"D-don't you have to k-kiss to be officially married?"

"…oh yeah. I forgot about that part. Well, we could fake a kiss or something. Like, on the cheek would be fine, right?"

"Yes, I suppose…"

"…There's one more thing."

"Yes?"

"…what if we wanted to have sex?"

Yukiho gasped. "M-Makoto-chan…!"

"I'm dead serious!" Makoto retaliated. "Two girls can't have sex! It's physically impossible! Well, I mean…you could try, but nothing would really happen. Like, one girl couldn't make another girl pregnant. And I really want babies."

"You could birth my babies," Kenchi muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Makoto shrugged. "In any case, if either of us wanted to have effective sex we'd each have to marry a boy too."

"You can marry me," Kenchi said quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing…!"

Makoto sighed. "Yukiho, I'm being serious here."

"I-I know, but…w-what makes you think I would want to have s-s-sex?!" Yukiho cried.

"Well, it's a really enjoyable experience, you know. That's why sometimes you moan and—"

"MAKOTO! SHUT UP!" Sora suddenly yelled. "How would you _know _that anyways?!"

Makoto blushed. "I…I-I wouldn't! I was just m-making assumptions…"

"Don't talk about stuff like that, OK?"

"Why? Have you experienced that feeling before, Sora?"

Jo, who had been watching in silence up to this point, suddenly said, "He's just thinking about how great it would be to have sex with Yukiho."

Sora's face flushed. "I…th-that's not what I was thinking at all!"

Yukiho just hyperventilated and passed out.

Sora groaned. "Ohime-chan…Ohime-chan, wake up…" He poked her cheek.

Yukiho sat up, smiling. "Yes?"

"Oh, you're awake."

"Yes."

"Anyways!" Grace yelled. "You guys can do whatever you want soon, because we're going to play seven minutes in heaven. Jo and I already decided the pairings and Sora and Yukiho, you two are going first."

Sora and Yukiho blushed.

"What?"

In response, Jo picked Sora up, kissed his cheek, then chucked him into the closet, and then she lifted Yukiho and did the same (minus the cheek kiss). Then Grace slammed and locked the door.

"Have fun in there, you crazy kids!"

"But not too much fun," Jo added. "No gazpacho. Well, I mean…you can if you want, but…"

"Gazpacho?" Makoto echoed. "What's that?"

"Cold tomato soup," Grace answered promptly.

"In other words, sex." Jo nodded.

"…cold tomato soup is sex?"

"Yup. In our language it is."

"There'll be none of that," Sora called from inside the closet.

"So…what should we do?"

"I-I don't know."

"…should we…talk about…pie?"

Yukiho turned around and picked something up. "Sora-kun…"

"Yes?"

Yukiho turned to face him and smiled. "We should have gazpacho."

Sora blushed madly. "W-w-what?!"

"Gazpacho. Cold tomato soup," Yukiho elaborated. She held out the object in her hands, which turned out to be a bowl of gazpacho. "Look…"

Sora placed a hand on his heart. "You meant the soup. Good."

"W-what did you think I meant…?!"

"N-nothing!"

Shrugging, Yukiho handed the bowl of gazpacho to Sora and then took another for herself. She scooped her spoon into the red soup and slurped it up, then made a satisfied noise and looked happily to Sora.

"Do you like it?"

"It's OK," Sora murmured. "I've had better."

"I-I think it's delicious."

"Ah."

The pair fell silent again. Yukiho slurped her gazpacho until there was nothing left. Sora finished his more slowly, and then Yukiho put the two bowls and spoons over in a distant corner before returning to sit in front of Sora.

"Two more minutes, you guys!" Jo yelled from outside the closet. "Start thinking about getting re-dressed. Otay?"

"W-we're not naked…!" Sora gasped.

"Oh. I wasn't expecting that. Well, if you want to get naked do it now, because you're running out of time…"

"Sora!" It was Makoto's voice this time. "Sora, I _swear _if you lay one finger on my precious little Yukiho I will _rip your tongue out._"

"Y-you're worse than her father…!"

"Understand, young man?"

"…yes sir."

"MA'AM!"

"Yes ma'am…!"

Yukiho giggled. "She's so sweet."

"Sweet? She wants to kill me and you call her sweet?"

Yukiho stared up at the ceiling. "…but, Sora-kun…y-you have to remember that everything she does is to protect me." She looked over at Sora, closed her eyes, and smiled. "Right? I-isn't that what you reminded me when we were fighting?"

Sora smiled back. "Right."

"She's a really good friend. I'm so lucky to have her."

"Yeah, you are. I mean, I'm not lucky to have her, since she irritates me and actually, she kinda scares me a little, but you, on the other hand, are very lucky."

Yukiho giggled. "I-I know."

"Yeah."

"You're sweet too, Sora-kun," Yukiho said suddenly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Ohime-chan," Sora breathed fondly. "…I love you."

"I…I-I love you…too."

"One more minute!" Grace screeched.

Sora looked over at the door. "Well…what should we do now?"

"Don't you _touch _her!" Makoto shouted.

Sora sighed. "Got it."

Yukiho moved a little closer. "We should…"

Sora leaned in in anticipation. He felt sure the girl would ask for a kiss, which, frankly, was what he'd been wanting to do the whole time. "Yeah?"

"…talk about pie…!"

Sora's heart sank. "Oh. Well, they're fruity…"

"Did you have something else in mind, S-Sora-kun?" Yukiho asked kindly.

Sora grinned. "Well…Ohime-chan, would it be OK if I kissed you?"

Yukiho blushed. "Um…I-I guess…?"

Sora blushed slightly. "Thanks. I'm gonna try that." Slowly, he leaned forwards and leaned his forehead on Yukiho's, lightly brushing some stray hair out of her face. "Are you sure it's OK?"

Yukiho's blush deepened. "…yes, it's OK."

Smiling wider, Sora placed a hand on her cheek. Yukiho held it in place and smiled slightly. Then, Sora tipped his head and pressed his lips to hers gently. He felt Yukiho press back weakly and suddenly felt an immense surge of happiness. After all, this was the girl he loved, and knowing that she cared about him made him incredibly happy. They stayed like that for at least fifteen seconds.

Then the door opened, revealing an anxious-looking Makoto, a smug-looking Jo, and a stupid-looking Grace.

"Time's up you weens," Jo announced.

Sora instantly pulled away from Yukiho, who squeaked and retreated to a dark corner.

"W-wait, what?" Sora turned around, confused. "Oh…you guys. Well, thanks for ruining the new best moment of my life."

"What?" chorused all voices at once (four counting Yukiho's elongated squeak).

"Nothing," Sora said quickly. He cleared his throat. "…right. Who's next?"

Jo clicked her tongue. "Sora, Sora, Sora. We all know you love that girl. And we all know you did dirty things in there."

"What dirty things?!" Makoto gasped, whirling on Jo, who shrugged.

"I dunno. OK, Makoto and Kenchi, it's your turn!"

"If you touch me, you will die a horrid, gory death by my bare hands."

"…that bad, huh?"

"Hey, I'm trusting you. Think of this as a second chance. Except that if you blow it, you're dead. Ten-thousand times dead."

"…oh."

"So…don't touch me."

"OK, OK…but you know, we're alone in a closet so potentially—"

"Don't pull that logic on me again! Just because we're alone doesn't mean you can just…rape me!"

Kenchi fell silent.

"…what?" Makoto pressed.

"…It isn't rape if you go along with it."

"KENCHI! Th-there's no way I'd go along with something like that…! W-we're too young!"

Kenchi shrugged. "I know. We'll just have to get married one day so that it'll be alright."

Makoto blushed. "You…you're stupid!"

"I'm serious!"

"So am I!"

Kenchi sighed. "If we get married, than it won't be a big deal. Married couples have sex all the time. That's how you populate the Earth. And sometimes you don't even have to be married—"

"What's wrong with you?!" Makoto snapped.

"I'm not kidding…!"

"I know, and that's exactly why there's something wrong with you!"

"Don't blame me!" Kenchi pleaded. "B-blame the rapists of the universe!"

"Oh, so like you?"

"I never raped anyone…!"

"But you _wanted _to!"

Kenchi groaned in annoyance. "OK, so maybe I dream about you naked and rape you mentally when I'm bored but that doesn't mean—"

"You WHAT?!" Makoto yelled

"N-n-nothing!" Kenchi insisted. "I love you so much…"

"What did you say?"

"I said…I love you so much," Kenchi repeated. "So sometimes things get a little out of control."

Makoto threw a can of gazpacho at him.

"Ow!" Kenchi yelped. "That…that really hurt!"

You deserved it for mentally raping me! I heard that, you know…!"

"I'm sorry, OK? At least I don't physically rape you."

"That doesn't make it OK!"

"And it isn't even rape! In my wild delusional fantasies you go along with things so technically it's just flat-out sex and I enjoy every second of it."

"Seriously, were you dropped on your head as a baby?"

"N-no! Makoto-chan, that was mean…!"

"Everything alright in there?" Grace called uneasily through the door.

"No," Makoto answered. "Can I go now?"

"No. Make-out for thirty-seven seconds and then you can go," Jo replied.

Makoto sighed heavily. "Fine." She crossed her arms and scooted against the wall. Kenchi moved next to her.

"Turn around," he ordered.

Makoto looked apprehensive. "Why?"

"Just trust me. You'll love it. Turn around."

Cautiously, Makoto turned so that her back was to Kenchi. "OK, now what?"

"Now relax," Kenchi told her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and started massaging them gently. "See? I told you to trust me."

Makoto relaxed and felt her self smiling. "Hn, it feels really nice. You're good."  
"Thank you. My siblings say I make a good masseuse."

"Is there anything you can't do? Like, you can cook, you give great massages, and you're cute, and forget that last one, and…" Makoto trailed off. "Wow, it really does feel nice…"

"I can do your back too," Kenchi offered. He pressed a little harder and Makoto made a pleasured noise. "I-if you want."

"Really?" Makoto murmured. "Thanks. So, should I lie down, or something…"

Kenchi coughed. "…usually, when receiving a proper back massage, the one being massaged removes their shirt."

Makoto blushed. "You want me…to take off my shirt?"

"I-I won't watch!" Kenchi promised. "Here, I can turn around until you're properly situated on the ground. At that point you'll be covered, right?"

"Y-you want me to take off my bra, too…?!"

"W-well, that's usually the way it works…"

Makoto stared at him. Finally, she sighed. "O-OK. I'm going to get undressed over here. Don't…d-don't watch me, OK?"

"I promise I won't."

"OK. I'm trusting you…"

"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Grace asked her sister. "Makoto is mine so he needs to back off and I'm afraid he's going to rape her before I get a chance. Yo Jo, have you noticed this chapter talks about sex a lot?"

"Yeah, I have. That's weird."

"You're weird."

"Well, DUH."

Sora shifted. "It's quiet in there," he commented. "I would've thought I would hear Makoto screaming by now."

"He's a good kid, deep down," Grace assured him. "Kentaro, that is. He just has obsession problems like Jo and me."

Jo grinned proudly and Grace placed her hands on her hips. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Still, I would have thought—"

"Nn, Kenchi…w-where are you touching?"

"It's fine. It feels good, doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but still…it's a little naughty…"

Sora sat upright. "You guys heard that, right?" he asked Grace and Jo. Jo snickered. Grace blinked and scowled. Yukiho yelped.

Sora stood and crossed to the door, where he sat on the floor to listen.  
"Makoto-chan, your skin is really soft."

"D-don't say things like that…!"

"Relax. It feels better when you relax."

"Uwa, Kenchi, your hands are cold…"

Sora frowned. "So from what I understand…at least one of them is naked. Should we do something?"

"Nah, they'll be fine," Jo laughed.

"G-gyaah…! K-Kenchi, a-are you…th-that's my butt…!"

"I know. It's pretty nice."

"You…I-I told you not to do that!"

"I've been doing it for the past fifteen seconds. You didn't realize that? It feels good, doesn't it?"

"I…nn, Kenchi, everything you do to me feels good…"

"What was that?"

"N-nothing!"

Sora stood. "I'm going to open the door."

"You can't. You don't know the password," Jo told him.

"Funny," Sora sighed. He unlocked the door and tried to open it, but to his surprise, the door wouldn't budge. "OK, what's the password?"

"Leave them," Grace commanded. "They still have three minutes."

Sora groaned and collapsed back on the floor.

"E-eh…?! Kenchi, where are you…w-wait a second, don't touch me there…! H-how do you even…?"

"It's simple. When I reach my arms around you like this…it'd be easier if you sat up."

"I definitely won't…!"

"Your breasts feel even softer when they're naked."

"You…s-stop doing that before I kill you brutally!"

"OK, OK. I guess I'm straying a little from the original goal, which was to make you have a good time with me. Right?"

"That was your goal? I thought you were just getting me to let loose…"

"Well, are you loose?"

"I could stay here like this with you all night…"

"…what?"

"I-I said, I-I hate you and you should leave me alone! I-I have to get dressed or people will get suspicious!"

"For crying out loud, what the heck is the password?!" Sora begged. "We have to get them out of here before something stupid happens!"

"They have two minutes," Grace commented, shrugging. "Just leave 'em."

Yukiho squeaked.

Jo laughed. "I don't wanna open the door on a naked Makoto. That would be gross."

There was silence, except for the occasional dirty comment or pleasured moan from the closet.

"On second thought," Grace began quietly, "maybe we should open the door."

"No, keeping the door closed is fine," Sora remarked lightly. "Those two deserve some fun."

"I want to see Makoto naked…"

"Well, no one else does, you freak."

"Once," Yukiho started, "when I was younger, Makoto-chan and I took a shower together. It was strange but I didn't mind. She helped me wash my back."

"You are so cute," Sora stated bluntly.

"Sora, I love you," Jo confessed.

Sora banged his head on the door.

"W-who's there?" Kenchi's voice gasped.

"Aw, is time up already? I'm enjoying myself," Makoto murmured. "Nn, harder, Kenchi, harder…!"

"R-right. Here I go…"

"OPEN THE DOOR, YOU FREAKS!" Sora begged.

"MAKAKALALAUJURABERKIOSIS!" Jo yelled. Yukiho ran to the door and shoved it open.

In the middle of the room were Kenchi and Makoto. Makoto was lying face-first on the ground, completely top-naked, and Kenchi was sitting by her side, his hands on her back, massaging it gently. He smiled at Yukiho when she opened the door.

"Hi, Hagiwara-chan. How are you?"

Makoto sat up a bit and looked over at the open door. "Oh, hey guys. How are you?"

"Makoto-chan, I-I can see your breasts…"

"E-eh?! W-why are you looking?!"

"I love you…?"

Grace stared. "So, I love you too my dearest."

"You terrify me…"

"Nice back. Madara would like that. Not as much as he likes Chihaya's back, but, you know…Madara's a back man."

"Um…OK…?" Makoto stood slowly, covering her chest with one arm. "Er…I'm going to get dressed."

Kenchi stood as well. "Alright. I'll wait right here for you so I can watch you dress…I-I mean…" He blushed. "I'll just…wait outside."

"Good plan. You're already a dead man so don't make things worse."

"…you look extremely sexy when you're half-naked, you know that?"

"Sh-shut up…!"

"I'm sorry!"

Everyone who wasn't Makoto exited the closet while the boyish girl got dressed. When she had finished, she exited the room, only to be bowled into by Kenchi, who knocked her to the ground and kissed her passionately. Sora looked away, disgusted. Jo sat on him. Yukiho squeaked and buried her arm in Sora's shoulder.

Grace kicked Kenchi off of Makoto. "She's mine."

Kenchi stood. "…ow."

Makoto rose to her feet awkwardly. "…that was nice, y'know…"

"What?"

"Nothing…! I-I'm going home…"

"Bye, SORA," Jo hissed. "Grace-neechan and I have to go."

"Bye Makoto my dearest beloved sexy beast of a darling," Grace called. "Imouto and I have to go."

Together, the two sisters skipped off. Makoto trudged home, feeling tired. Sora walked Yukiho home and then went home himself, and Kenchi called his brother to pick him up.

The trio new for sure it wasn't the last they'd see of each other.


	20. Chapter 20

_ …in which there is a huge misunderstanding betwixt Sora and Yukiho and Makoto._

"Thanks for inviting us over, Ohime-chan," Sora said brightly.

Yukiho smiled. "You're welcome. My parents said it was OK so I really wanted to have you over."

"We should have a sleepover," Makoto announced, "and Sora should sleep with me."

"Ew…"

"Yeah, I know, I was totally kidding. If you tried to sleep with me I'd kill you. Hey, Sora, can I ask you something?"

Sora blinked. "Sure, as long as it isn't something stupid." He paused. "No, wait, everything that comes out of your mouth is stupid. You can't ask me anything."

Makoto punched his arm. "It's just a quick question, you jerk."

"Fine, fine…ow, my arm…"

Makoto stopped walking. "Is it comfortable to sleep in nothing but underwear?"

Sora stared at her. "What?"

"Guys sleep in their underwear, right?" Makoto confirmed.

"Some do," Sora agreed.

"M-Makoto-chan, what are you really asking?" Yukiho wondered aloud.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe if I slept in my underwear then that would be really comfortable since guys do it all the time. See?"

"…Makoto, what is wrong with you?" Sora sighed.

"You see, when I was young my dad—w-wait a second! There's nothing wrong with me! I just…get random ideas sometimes!"

Sora shook his head. "Well, it isn't like I really care anyways. Yukiho—Ohime-chan, what are we doing?"

Yukiho shrugged. "I don't know. I-I just figured we could sit in my room."

"I have to go to the bathroom," Makoto declared. "I'll catch up with you guys later." She tuned and started down the hall. Sora watched her, sighing loudly.

"Seriously, what is wrong with her?" he asked Yukiho.

"I think she's cute like that," Yukiho admitted. "Don't you, Sora-kun?"

"I don't think anything about that girl is cute. You are cute. She is not."

"S-Sora-kun…thank you, but that's a little rude to M-Makoto-chan." Yukiho looked into her room. "I'm going to get changed, Sora-kun. Please wait out here for me."

"OK. What's wrong with what's you're wearing?"

Yukiho yelped and gestured to the low-cut neckline of the shirt she was currently wearing. It had been chosen for her today by a servant and she hadn't put much thought into wearing the shirt, but now that she had a chance she wanted to change out of the revealing outfit.

Sora scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Right, I didn't notice that."

Yukiho nodded, bowed, and then retreated into her room.

Sora waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Suddenly, he heard a loud yelp from Yukiho's room. Concerned, he flung her door open. "Ohime-chan! Are you al—"

He slammed the door shut immediately, having just seen a naked Yukiho who had fallen on the floor and landed in quite an attractive pose. He blushed.

"What was that?"

Startled by the relatively-deep voice, Sora cried out in surprise and whirled around. Standing in front of him, arms crossed, was Makoto, who always seemed to show up right when Sora was doing something awkward.

"I…well, you see…"

"Did you just look at her naked?!"

"N-no! Well…I mean, kind of, but I didn't pay attention and I shut the door immediately so I couldn't see much…"

"…why?"

"Well, um…she yelped and so I opened the door…and she was…naked."

"…why the heck didn't you knock?"

"I…don't know."

Makoto sighed. "Sora, if you can't stop being a pervert I'll have to separate the two of you." She nodded decisively. "It's for her own good, really."

"I-I'm not a pervert!" Sora snapped. "I mean…just look at you!"

Makoto blushed. "Did you…did you just call me a pervert?!"

"Let's face it, Makoto; you asked me if it was comfortable to sleep in your underwear…"

"I-I was just curious!"

"…you want to marry Yukiho…"

"We're best friends anyways so I think it would make sense…"

"…you brought up sex at a game of seven minutes in heaven…"

"It was seven minutes in heaven! Someone was going to bring it up sooner or later!"

"…and you made noises of pleasure while a perverted kid touched you and you lay top-naked alone in a closet with said kid."

"I-it was…he was massaging me and it felt really good!"

Sora smirked. "'Kenchi, everything you do to me feels good'," he quoted in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. "Isn't that what you were thinking?"

Makoto's blush deepened. "I…what were you doing listening to us, anyways?!"

"Face it. You're a pervert."

"I-I am not!"

Sora laughed. "You are so much fun to mess with, you know that?"

Makoto punched him in the arm again. "You're a real jerk, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah…ow, that really hurt…"

Makoto sniffed. "I'm going to go get a tasty snack, and you don't get to have any of it. Jerk."

"Fine by me. I brought my own tasty snack, and I'm going to share it with Yukiho."

Makoto stuck her tongue out at him and stalked off. Sora sighed and knocked on Yukiho's door, picking up a small picnic basket that lay by his side.

"Hey, Ohime-chan, can I come in?" he called. "I want to show you something."

"C-come in, Sora-kun."

Makoto wandered back up the stairs of Yukiho's home, muttering angrily to herself.

"That jerk," she hissed. "How dare he accuse me of being a pervert?! I mean, he's the one who touched Yukiho's breast and made out with her in a closet and I'm positive he did all sorts of dirty things to her when we weren't in contact." She paused at Yukiho's door. "When I get in there I'm going to punch him so hard…"

"Ah, S-Sora-kun…a-are you sure this is alright?"

"It's fine. I put these things in my mouth all the time."

"Sora-kun…it's still so dirty…"

Makoto froze. _What in the world…?_ She listened.

"OK, here…I'll walk you through it. Grab it here, like this…eh, Ohime-chan, y-you're squeezing it really hard!"

"I-I'm so sorry…!"

"It's…it's OK. Alright, now just lean in…"

_What on Earth are they doing? _Makoto wondered. _They…n-no! I-it can't be…!_

"A-ah! Sora-kun, i-it's so…big!"

"Yeah, thanks…I guess. Don't worry. Most of them are big like this. You'll love it. Just lean down and…put your mouth around it like that. See?"

"Mm…mm! Sora-kun, i-it's nice…"

"Ohime-chan, d-don't get your tongue all over it…"

Makoto blushed. _If I open the door there's a chance…I-I don't want to see something dirty, but if I don't stop them who knows how far this will go?!_

"See? After your first time it doesn't seem so strange. Now, let me see yours."

"Y-you want to…? Ah, well, it isn't as good, I'm sure, but…"

"That's alright, I just want to taste it."

_I can't take it anymore!_ Absolutely livid, Makoto swung the door open violently (probably causing a dent in the wall where the doorknob hit it) and glared down at Sora. "Sora! What the heck are you doing to my…Yukiho…you're wearing…pants."

Sora nodded slowly. "Yeah…I was just letting Ohime-chan try one of these really big fatty cupcakes that my friend made. They're delicious."

Yukiho nodded to show her approval.

Makoto raised an eyebrow and her mouth froze open in a look of pure bewilderment. "Wha…?"

"And Yukiho was letting me try the cupcakes she made herself," Sora continued. Yukiho held up a small chocolate cupcake. "See?"

Makoto just stared at them.

"…out of curiosity, what did you think was going on?" Sora asked. "Makoto, you have a dirty mind. After all, I'm sure you would want to try one with me too."

"Sora, you make it sound dirty…"

"Ah…sorry. Would you like a fatty cupcake?"

Makoto gave up and just collapsed on the ground. "…OK, sure. Seriously though, don't say such confusing things, you guys…"

"Really though, what _did _you think we were doing?"

"Um…well, I'd rather not explain it…?"

"Why, what—OH! I get it now! M-Makoto, w-why on Earth would you think something like that, you pervert?!"

"Y-you're the pervert, pervert!"

Yukiho just ate her cupcake and waited for the two to calm down, blissfully unaware of what Makoto's mind had dreamt up about her time eating cupcakes with Sora. Eventually Makoto and Sora calmed down and for the rest of the day, the three sat together and ate cupcakes.


	21. Chapter 21

_…in which this glorious book comes to an official close, the author cries a bit, and the _

_ trio promises to meet again._

"We're _what_?!"

Producer nodded slowly. "765 Productions has gotten an invitation to go perform a tour in Europe. We have big sponsors and everything. You guys, this is huge."

Yukiho looked down at the ground sadly. A tour in Europe meant she would have to say goodbye to Sora, and she had grown very fond of the kind young man. She looked over at Makoto, looking in disbelief at Producer, and sensed that she felt the same way.

But Producer was right; this was a huge opportunity. And if the idols turned this down, their popularity would never grow worldwide. Naturally, Yukiho assumed that this would be her final goodbye to Sora.

"Don't worry, girls," Producer said brightly. "You still have a month before we have to go. Now, I know that seems like kind of short notice, but trust me, it's plenty of time."

Haruka jumped to her feet. "Producer-san is right!" she cheered. "We still have one month to say goodbye and spend time with our friends. The best thing to do now is to make every second last!"

The other idols nodded or called out their agreement, and Haruka, happy with her pep talk, took her seat again. Yukiho exchanged a glance with Makoto and a silent promise was made.

They would go visit Sora.

"You're leaving?" Sora gasped. "But…why?"

"P-Producer-san got 765 Productions a tour in Europe," Yukiho explained. "We're going to travel all over the country and put on performances, and to be honest…I-I'm a little scared."

Sora frowned. "I just can't believe you're leaving. How long?"

"O-one year."

"A whole year?" Sora complained. "That's just not fair."

Yukiho nodded slowly. "Well…w-we have one more month. I would like to spend most of my time with my parents, but if you would like to come over for dinner some time and meet them, then I'm sure that would be fine," she invited.

"That sounds great," Sora agreed. "Alright, Makoto, where's my goodbye?"

"Bye, Sora."

"Bye."

Yukiho giggled. "U-um…I'm going to go home now and spend time with my parents. I-I'll come say goodbye again right before we go, alright?"

Sora nodded. "I'll miss you. A lot."

"Thank you, I'll miss you too."

Through the next month, Yukiho spent most of her time with her parents, but she never neglected to spend time with Sora when she could. There were practices at the agency almost daily to help the idols prepare for their tour. But whenever Yukiho got a break that she didn't want to spend with family, she spent it with her dear male friend. But eventually, the time came when they had to part.

Sora went with the idols to the airport. He had brought with him Kenchi (who, in turn, had brought his sister and brother) and Jasper (who had really just come to say goodbye to Iori, Chihaya, Azusa, and Yukiho, the idols he liked best). He stood with Yukiho in the middle of the group, alone, to offer a final parting.

"Well…it's been fun, Ohime-chan," he sighed. "I'm…really going to miss you." He looked over to Makoto, eagerly exchanging goodbyes with Kyoko. "Both of you, to be honest. But don't tell her I said that."

Yukiho giggled. "Yes, I'll miss you too," she admitted. "A lot. I…you know, Sora-kun, aside from Producer-san and Shachou-san, you are the only man I've ever been willing to be close to. You've shown me that…not all of you are s-scary beasts."

Sora chuckled.

"And I…I really love you, Sora-kun. Thank you so much for taking care of me all this time, and for being so sweet, and…thank you. I-I love you…a-and I'll miss you…and I just can't imagine being apart from you anymore. You've been with me for so long—"

Before Yukiho could continue, Sora stepped forwards, slipped his arms around her waist, and kissed first her cheek, then her lips. Yukiho closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing herself to kiss him back. Both of them blushed.

After a while, Sora retreated and smiled at her. "I love you too," he began, "and I'm going to miss you like crazy. I can't imagine life without you. But you know, you won't be gone forever. In one year I'll be here, right in this very spot, waiting to give you a hello hug. OK?"

Yukiho beamed and tears formed in her eyes. "S-Sora-kun…!"

"Yeah?"

"…I have to go say goodbye to Jasper-kun. He's actually kind of cute once you get to know him."

"…oh. Yeah, I know."

"But…" Yukiho paused. "…I'll be eagerly awaiting my hello hug. Goodbye, Sora-kun."

Sora smiled. "See you later."

"Y-yes!"

"Makoto-chan!"

Makoto turned. Kenchi ran to her and wrapped the girl in a tight hug. Makoto yelped, surprised. "Ah…Kenchi, it's you."

"Makoto-chan, why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

"Ah, I…well, I didn't want to say goodbye…"

Kenchi frowned and held her head against his chest. "Why not?"

Makoto slipped her arms around his back. "Um…you see, I'm not coming back immediately after the tour."

Kenchi blinked. "What?"

"Everyone else is coming home right after the tour finishes. I'm staying in Europe for at least another six months."

"OK…why?" Kenchi asked. He rubbed her back softly.

"My dad," Makoto answered. "He…there's this big martial arts tournament going on in Europe soon after the tour ends, and he's making me participate." She added a laugh. "I say 'making', but it's more like 'encouraging'. I kind of want to test myself anyways."

Kenchi frowned. "That doesn't mean you should have not said goodbye. I'll miss you."

"I'm sorry. I knew it was going to be hard so I chickened out."

"Don't worry. I still would have loved you even if you left without saying goodbye," Kenchi promised.

Makoto smiled. "Thanks. Um…you know, even though you are a pervert…I love you too, Kench. Really, I do."

"So…you're OK that I'm a pervert?"

"You do realize you just willingly admitted that you're a pervert, right?"

"I'm only a pervert to you because I love you so much I want to die."

"Please don't."

"OK. Can I have a kiss before you go?"

Makoto giggled, pulling back slightly from the hug. "As long as you promise it'll just be a kiss," she replied.

"No promises," Kenchi muttered half-jokingly.

"Wait, what?"

Instead of answering, Kenchi leaned down and kissed her. Makoto heard Kyoko "aw"-ing in the background and Kyou asking himself why in the world his brother would choose such a flat-chested girl, who at least wasn't as bad as Chihaya or Yayoi, "but Chihaya is at least beautiful and Yayoi is cute, while this girl has absolutely nothing going for her. Really."

Eventually, Kenchi separated from the girl and smiled at her sadly. "I'll miss you," he murmured. "Stay safe, OK?"

"I will," Makoto assured him. "You too. And…take care of Sora for me, OK?"  
"Have you said goodbye to him yet?"

Makoto looked away. "…he doesn't want to, I'm sure."

"That's not true. Sora-kun finds you irritating but he told me himself that he was going to miss you when you left. I'm sure he wants to say goodbye," Kenchi soothed. "After all, he really does consider you a friend."

"Liar."

"I'm serious, though…"

Makoto smiled and stepped back. "Well, anyways, it's time to go, so…bye, Kentaro. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you more, Makoto-chan."

"That's probably true…"

"H-hey…!"

Sora sighed and watched Yukiho and Makoto walk off with their group and sighed sadly.

"I'm really going to miss those two," he told Kenchi, who nodded.

"Me too," he admitted.

"Makoto never even gave me a proper goodbye," Sora muttered. "…I'm gonna miss that spazzy freak. She was fun. Well, fun to mess with, at least. And in the end she really did consider me a friend. She was pretty supportive of my relationship with Ohime-chan, after all."

"She said you wouldn't want a goodbye," Kenchi said, shrugging.

"What? Of course I do. See, this is why she's stupid."

"She's cute…"

"No she's not, Kench. Give it up."

Sighing, Kenchi returned to his family and Sora watched the idols walk away. After a while, he turned and started walking away. Before he got too far, he felt two arms wrap slowly around his body. His first thought was Yukiho, but then he heard the person speak and realized it was Makoto. He smiled slightly at the sound of her voice.

"Bye, Sora. I'm going to miss you…a lot."

"Yeah, I'll miss you too, you freak."

"Jerk."

"Idiot."

"Pervert."

Sora chuckled and Makoto giggled. She rubbed her face against his back.

"Seriously though," Sora began, "get off of me you thing."

"No…"

"Makoto, let go already…"

"Will you hug me back if I do?"

"I'll slap your face if that'll make you happy."

"Hn, Sora…you know, this is the last you'll see of me for two years," Makoto whined. "Make it good."

"Two years?" Sora repeated. "But the tour is only one year…"

"I wanted to thank you," Makoto breathed, ignoring his comment. "Thank you for being so kind to Yukiho. It really means a lot to me to know she has someone who can take care of her while I'm gone."

"You're welcome. Now seriously, get the heck off of me, Makoto…"

"OK. Bye."

"Bye."

Slowly, Makoto detached herself from Sora and the boy turned around. Makoto backed up to re-join her group, waving happily until it was time to turn around and run to catch up with the rest of 765 Pro. Sora waved back. Then he chuckled again, shaking his head.

"That idiot," he muttered.

"She should have said 'see you again'."

**(A/N: So, that marks the end of this marvelous book! I can't believe it's done. Don't worry, there will be a sequel (most likely) and a bunch of bonus chapter (including the one where everyone dies) so it isn't totally the end. Thank you all for keeping up with this! I love you guys so much~~~~~**

**OK, now for something serious:**

**This chapter—and this book—were almost completely lost to the world. **

**Guys, I would like to share a quick testimony because this just shook me to the core.**

**Me and my family were in Colonial Willamsburg. For some reason I decided to bring my thumbdrive (which has this book along with many others on it) along with me, and somewhere along the road it fell out of my pocket. Naturally, I had my family look for it.**

**You want to know what? We looked in a giant grass field in the pitch darkness with only our phones to serve as flashlights. And it was raining. There was no way we should have been able to find it. We searched for at least half an hour before I was about ready to give up.**

**I was devastated. My life's work was gone. I was on the brink of despair. And then, suddenly, my sister announced that she had found it. **

**Guys, I should not have found that thumbdrive. It was a real-life miracle. God really does exist and he's watching out for us. Really. I owe this chapter to him.**

**So for this chapter, the dedication goes to God. Thanks. :3)**


	22. Omake 1: And then, EVERYONE DIED

SORA

Sora was going for a walk when suddenly his back gave out. "AH!" he screeched, clutching his back in agony. "My SPINE!" He fell to the ground and began writhing in pain, all the while foaming at the mouth like a mad-man.

"ASPRIN!" someone screamed, then that same someone threw a can of laxatives at Sora and Sora exploded and died. The end.

YUKIHO

Yukiho decided to go fishing but she forgot she didn't know how to fish. In the interest of actually catching something, she decided to use herself as human bait and attached herself to a fishing pole, then jumped into the water screaming "R-RAINBOW BALUGA WHALES…!" Unfortunately for Yukiho, screaming such a thing actually attracted Rainbow Baluga Whales (which are highly carnivorous animals) and she was eaten alive and died. The end.

MAKOTO

One night, while Makoto was sleeping peacefully and having dreams of popcorn fairies, gumdrops, and monster trucks, a horde of rabid fangirls snuck into her room. Makoto barely had time to scream before the fangirls ate her face off, thus infecting her with rabies, and she died. The end.

JASPER

Jasper, who loves water, went surfing one day and wiped out. But since Jasper was such a good swimmer, he was able to survive—until he ran into a shark, which traded him bubblegum for a pair of shoes. Jasper obliged and ate his new shark bubblegum underwater, but the bubblegum was poisonous so he died. The end.

KENCHI

Kyoko got the bright idea to masquerade as a duck to a hunter's ball with Kenchi as her escort. Upon being seen, Kyoko was shot at multiple times, but in the interest of protecting his sister Kenchi took the bullets. This, for some weird reason, wasn't what killed him. It was the simple lack of Makoto at said ball that killed him and he died. The end.


	23. Omake 2: Happy (Early) Birthday Yukiho!

"So what are you going to get Yukiho for her birthday?"

"Wait…it's Ohime-chan's birthday?'

"Yeah, on Christmas Eve…wait a second, how did you not know that?!"

"Well, we were always talking about other stuff so I guess I just…never got her birthday."

"That's…how dare you call yourself her boyfriend!"

"I _don't_!"

"Well, you should. She likes you."

"Yeah, I know that but…how old is she turning?"

"Eh? …um…let's see…"

"…you don't even know?"

"W-well, in the video game she was seventeen and in the anime, too, but then Namco went and put that birthday episode for her in the anime so I guess she would be eighteen at that point so now, in this fanfiction, I think she's tuning nineteen. But at the same time, as far as I know I'm still seventeen which would mean I skipped a year of birthdays, so I guess my birthday just passed and I turned eighteen and no one celebrated. Wow, that's horrible, people are supposed to make a big hoot about your eighteenth birthday…! Stupid Namco, you're making things confusing!"

"…a big hoot? Makoto, who the heck says that anymore?"

"I dunno…"

"And what's this about a video game? And anime? And fanfiction?"

"…I dunno."

"…in any case…you can't call yourself her best friend if—"

"And, in addition, we must have had like…six birthdays between the time 'Live For You!' and the SP games were released and the time The iDOLM STER 2 was released, so I guess we lost a ton of years?"

"What…what does that even mean?"

"And then we had even more birthdays between the release of The iDOLM STER 2 and the anime based on it…"

"Makoto, what the heck are you talking about?"

"Shut up, Sora. I'm trying to calculate my best friend's age. Hey, come to think of it, why does Yukiho always get all the birthday specials?! Like, she had one in Idolmaster: Xenoglossia too even though she kinda…wait, no, I won't spoil it."

"I…what?"

"Hm…and that one started…in spring or something, right? So I should have gotten a birthday special! Why does everyone always ignore August?! I mean, in the iDOLM STER 2 anime it started in summer and it didn't actually reach fall until episode 14 or so…"

"Makoto?"

"…so I should have gotten a birthday special. Doesn't that make sense? Well, even if I didn't get a special I think I still had my birthday…"

"Makoto."

"…but it was my eighteenth birthday! I mean, I should have gotten a huge celebration-shindig-party-brouhaha—"

"Brouhaha? What the heck is a brouhaha?"

"—but NO, Namco decided to just skip my birthday…and then I had another one this year. Well, I'm pretty sure I'm nineteen now. That means everyone else had birthdays too, right? Where are their birthday specials?"

"Makoto! We're supposed to be discussing what we want to get Ohime-chan for her birthday!"

"Shut up, Sora. I'm ranting. Alright…well, I'm pretty sure that Yukiho is turning twenty-three."

"…what?!"

"Officially speaking, that is. The game was first released in 2005 and she was sixteen then, so officially speaking she's twenty-three now."

"Makoto, you're way over-analyzing everything. Just tell me what to get her."

"But at the rate everything is going…let's say nineteen."

"JUST TELL ME WHAT TO GET HER!"

"Just get her a puppy!"

"She's scared of dogs, stupid!"

"Exactly! It'll be hilarious."

"…Makoto, what's wrong with you?"

"Shut up, Sora. I'm mourning my lack of an eighteenth birthday party."

"I'm going to get her a notebook. You think she would like that? It could be something to keep her poetry in. She told me she writes poetry."

"She does. I've never seen it."

"Really? I've seen one."

"…you're kidding, right? She never shows that to anyone."

"It was before we started eating our fatty cupcakes. Anyway, so do you think getting her a notebook would be a good idea?"

"Yup. As a matter of fact, it's such a good idea that I'm stealing it from you."

"Wha…? N-no way! Think of your own present!"

In the end, Yukiho ended up receiving two notebooks for her birthday.

"So, Yukiho, how old are you turning?"

"Eh? …um…let's see…"

"You don't know either, huh, Ohime-chan?"

"…n-no."

"…well, happy twenty-third birthday!"

"W-what?!"

"I dunno."

**(A/N: Literally almost an entire chapter of dialogue, mostly between Makoto and Sora. I know I'm a little early, but I wanted to just write this and get it out of the way. For the sake of fanfiction let's just assume it's the day before December 24 when this convasation (XD) takes place.**

**Seriously though...how old is she?)**


	24. Omake 3: Mistletoe Special

SoraxYukiho

Sora sighed, leaning against the post of the arch he stood under. It was cold, but for some reason Sora was standing outside under this random arch that definitely hadn't been in the park yesterday. He failed to notice Grace and Jo snickering from behind a tree.

Yukiho jogged over to him and smiled. "Hi, Sora-kun. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Ohime-chan. And happy birthday…even if we don't know which birthday it is."

Yukiho leaned up against the opposite side of the arch, fiddling her hands around inside her muffler. She drew a hand out and adjusted her hat, then thrust it back inside the fluffy white warmness encircling her other hand.

"I-I'm not sure either. Maybe it's…" She trailed off. "Sora-kun, w-where did this arch come from?"

"I don't know." Sora looked up to the sky—and blushed. His eye had caught onto something hanging from the top of the arch.

Mistletoe.

"Um…Ohime-chan?" he whispered.

"Yes?"

Sora pointed.

Yukiho looked up. "What a pretty plant."

"It's mistletoe."

"Oh."

"Do you know what that means?"

Yukiho blinked. "Mistletoe…is a pretty plant?"

"Well, that too…"

Yukiho cocked her head. "What else does it m-mean?"

"That we have to kiss," Sora stated. He said "have to", but it was more like "encouraged to". He wanted to kiss Yukiho anyway, after all.

Yukiho blushed. "…oh," she said simply. "Um…a-alright."

Slowly, she took a step off the wall of the arch and walked to the middle.

"I'm ready…"

Sora smiled and stepped over to meet her. "Don't worry. It'll just be quick, anyway."

"I-I'm…not worried," Yukiho breathed. She smiled.

"Good. I won't hurt you. It'll just be a quick kiss…"

Before he could end the sentence, Yukiho leaned in and kissed him. Sora blushed and felt himself kiss her back. Slowly, he moved his arms around her and kissed her deeper. Yukiho squeaked into his mouth and he immediately pulled away.

"…I'm sorry," he muttered. "Was that too much for you?"

"I-I was just a bit surprised," Yukiho answered. "…w-we could…k-kiss again, if you want to…"

Sora just smiled and shook his head. "That was enough for me."

"A-are you sure?"

"No." He leaned in and kissed her again. This time, Yukiho was the one who pulled Sora closer, while Grace and Jo experienced spastic giggle fits and took lots of pictures.

KenchixMakoto

"W-wait up already!"

"Kench, you're too slow…!"

"I'm not slow, you're just way too fast! H-hang on…!"

Makoto paused under an arch that was conveniently placed in the park right where she was running with Kenchi. "Fine, I'll wait for you over here. Hurry up!"

Grace and Jo high-fived at their couple-catching abilities.

Kenchi jogged over and paused to catch his breath beneath the random arch that both of them knew had not been there yesterday. "You know…most people…can't run that fast w-without a break."

"Come on, we only did four miles…"

"That's a lot!"

Makoto shrugged. "You just need to work on your stamina."

"Y-you're not panting at all…?!"

"Hey, I'm used to this kind of thing. Now, go ahead and take a break and then we'll run back. 'Kay?"

Grace threw a rock at the top of the arch, hoping to direct their attention to the little thing of mistletoe, then realized that she had pretty much jut forced her beloved Makoto to kiss someone who wasn't her and screamed violently at herself over her misfortune. She then proceeded to cry into Jo's shoulder.

Unfortunately for Grace, her plan worked and both teenagers looked up to the top of the arch where the rock had struck, successfully spotting the mistletoe as well.

"Oh, hey, what do you know. It's mistletoe."

"Yes, it is."

The both of them fell silent.

"What do you think happens if we ignore it?"

"I-I don't know," Kenchi muttered. _Just kiss me already before I tackle you to the floor and make out with you, because we both know you won't enjoy that as much._

To test, Makoto walked out from under the arch and started to leave the park area. Kenchi resisted the urge to drag her back and pin her to the wall. She took a few more steps.

Jo threw a rock at her head.

Makoto yelped and jumped out of the way of the oncoming projectile, looking around wildly to try to see who'd thrown it.

Behind their tree, Jo pouted that she'd missed and Grace beat her mercilessly (or so she thought) for trying to kill her beloved darling.

Makoto slowly backed under the arch again. "So that's what happens."

"Yes, I suppose so…" _Hurry up and kiss me…_

"So…"

"…so."

They fell silent again.

"…this is awkward," Makoto pointed out.

"Really."

"Yeah. So…yeah. I guess…yeah. So. Um…"

"…yeah."

"…uh-huh."

Grace and Jo both threw rocks.

Makoto yelped again and fled to Kenchi's side of the arch, which resulted in her crashing into him, which ultimately resulted in the two of them standing very close and Kenchi's arms around her. Both of them blushed.

Jo prepared to throw another rock, but Grace ate it before she could, so Jo beat Grace with a rock.

Makoto blinked. "Um."

"Yeah."

"So…"

"Would you just kiss me already?" Kenchi sighed, beginning to get annoyed. His hand twitched and he tried to keep it from wandering down to Makoto's butt.

Makoto blushed harder. "…why don't you just kiss me?"

In response, Kenchi obliged.

Makoto struggled for a few seconds before realizing that Kenchi was a boy and she wasn't reliving painful memories and she actually liked him, so she relaxed and kissed him back. They stayed that way for a while until Makoto twitched slightly.

Kechi was touching her butt.

She shoved away, blushing madly. "Did you just touch my butt?!"

"Yup." Kenchi pulled her back in and kissed her again, holding the girl as close against him as possible. Eventually, Makoto allowed herself to relax again and the two of them made out while Grace and Jo had a discussion behind their tree.

"They're an ugly couple," Jo decided.

"I would be better for her," Grace agreed.

"You're weird, Onee-chan…"

"Yeah, I know."

"I think me and Sora would be a lovely couple."

"…nah, he's cuter with Yukiho."

Jo beat her sister with a rock while Kenchi and Makoto eventually separated. Makoto slapped him.

"…OK, ow," Kenchi whined. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because you're a pervert," Makoto replied bluntly. "But you're my pervert." She paused. "You are my pervert, right? Because if you're going around touching other girls, I want no part of you."

"I don't even like other girls…"

"Good. Now let's walk home holding hands until we get close to my house, at which time you will have to go all the way on the other side of the street so my dad doesn't think we have anything to do with each other."

"OK…?"

JasperxYukiho

Jasper sat down under the arch. Yukiho walked over and sat on the opposite side of the arch.

"Hi, Jasper-kun."

"There's mistletoe here," Jasper responded immediately. He pulled a handful of grass out of the ground and ripped it up, then dropped it and yanked out some more grass.

"O-oh," Yukiho murmured. "I…I-I don't want to kiss you…!"

"I don't want to kiss anyone," Jasper sighed.

"Go ahead and just go home," Jo called.

Yukiho blinked, stood, and walked away. "OK, g-goodbye, Jasper-kun."

"Bye, Yukiho."

SoraxMakoto

For some reason, Sora was still under the arch. Makoto ran over to him, waving.

"Hey, Sora~!" she called, pausing under the arch. "I dropped my pen over here. Have you seen it~?"

"Why are you ending your sentences with squiggly lines?"

"Hm~? I don't know~"

"Stop it. It's weird."

"Hey, Sora~," Makoto began, smiling her signature catty smile, "y'know, there's mistletoe here~"

Sora blinked. "…no."

"Aw, c'mon~…"

"No way."

"Just once can't hurt, right~?"

"I'm sure that's what you thought when you kissed me the first time. Which, by the way, I did not appreciate at all."

"You're cruel, Sora~…"

"Stop doing that."

"What~?"

"Ending your sentence with squiggly lines."

"How do you even…what?"

"I don't know."

Grace and Jo stepped out from behind their tree.

"Yeah, you two can just…go home," Grace told them.

"You two are a hideous couple," Jo stated.

Makoto blinked. Then she leaned over to Sora, planted a kiss on his cheek, and then ran away.

"You…! Get back here so I can kill you!" Sora hissed, frantically rubbing his face.

Makoto laughed. "Catch me if you can, Sora~!"

"Get back here already!" Sora took off after the girl, screaming her name and rubbing his face.

Grace and Jo watched them.

"Fun," Grace muttered.

"He's mine," Jo said.

"Well, _she's mine_ so…"

"Let's go home."

"But there's still two more couples."

"Oh yeah."

KenchixYukiho

For some strange reason that neither of them could understand, Yukiho and Kenchi were suddenly standing under the arch.

"Hi, Hagiwara-chan," Kenchi greeted. "How's your afternoon?"

"Oh, i-it's wonderful," Yukiho answered. "Thank you for asking, Kentaro-kun. H-how is your family?"

"Oh, the usual…Kyoko is being lazy and Kyou-nii is being a pervert."

Yukiho nodded. "…well, goodbye."

"Bye."

Grace and Jo watched them walk away.

"Yeah, let's just let them go."

"Ugly couples everywhere…"

JasperxMakoto

Jasper was still plucking grass when Makoto approached.

"Stop yanking all that grass out," she chastised. "You're hurting the environment."

Jasper stared at her and then returned to his grass-plucking.

"Stupid kid," Makoto muttered.

"Ugly freak."

"You really think so? I've always wanted…hey, wait a second!"

"You're stupid," Jasper stated bluntly.

"I am…" Makoto trailed off.

"I know, That's way I said it, stupid."

"That's not what I meant," Makoto snapped. "Jasper…there's mistletoe here."

The two of them fell silent. Then Jasper made some sort of strangled screaming noise and started screaming "EW!" and various other noises of contempt, while Makoto sat on the sidelines keeled over in pain while she thought about the horrors of kissing Jasper.

Grace laughed.

Jo threw rocks and successfully hit Makoto in the neck and Jasper in the arm. Jasper threw another rock at Jo, successfully knocking her out.

"I'm just going home," Makoto sighed weakly. "Ew, kissing Jasper…"

"BLARF! BWARG! EW, THAT'S JUST…BWURF!"

**(A/N: Yeah, this is a little early too...but anyways! This might be the last ofthe omakes. By the way, you can just assume all of these omakes (except the one where everyone dies) took place before 765 Pro left to go on the tour. Yeah. Ok, I hope you liked it. This was for you again, SAOSwordArtOnline/keljae/Jo.**

**Did I ever tell you that I'm Grace and SAOSwordArtOnline/keljae is Jo? Yeah. We are.)**


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